I chose an AXA insurance & now I homeless

SammenForLivet2

Hello Neil

As others have said, it's a good-time to turn to the Finacial Ombudsman Service, who are likely-to be able to help (although it may take some time).

There's no fee for going to them, nor any repercussions (costs) for you.
They will look at both sides of the story, and then put things right for you -if they feel you've been mistreated (note: They can award only upto £100,000 legally - think). As others have said, you can still go-to the courts if your not happy with their decision.

You can take the first step and contact them, by calling:

0800 023 4 567
calls to this number are normally free for people ringing from a "fixed line" phone – but charges may apply if you call from a mobile phone

0300 123 9 123
calls to this number are charged at the same rate as 01 or 02 numbers on mobile phone tariffs

I hope this helps.

norwichmanneil

17 January 2011


Your Subsidence Claim

Following the notification of your claim we write to confirm that we have been instructed by your Insurers, Axa, to handle the matter on their behalf.
We refer to our recent inspection of your property and a copy of the report we have issued to your Insurers is attached.
At this stage, and pending clarification of the cause of the damage, we are obliged to advise that liability for the claim is currently reserved.
If a valid claim arises we will advise you of our next steps in order to progress the claim appropriately under your Building Policy.
At this stage however, we can tell you that Insurers will not pay more in total than the Sum Insured for Buildings shown in your Policy Schedule for any one claim.
There is additional cover, not to exceed 10% of the sum insured for Buildings for any one claim for the removal of debris, making safe and professional fees. This will include (i) architects surveyors consulting engineers and legal fees (ii) the cost of clearing debris from the site or demolishing or shoring up the Buildings (iii) the cost to comply with government or local authority requirements.
As you may be aware we have already received instruction from your Insurers to proceed with the necessary steps to ensure that your property is stable and safe. Once this is complete site investigations will need to be undertaken to ascertain the cause of the movement.
Canham Consulting Structural Engineers have been appointed on your behalf to procure the above mentioned work. Once we have received their investigation report we will be able to confirm whether or not there is a valid insurance claim under the subsidence, heave and landslip section of your building policy.
As your property is currently uninhabitable, Insurers have also agreed to arrange alternative accommodation. The cost of such accommodation is covered under a separate section of the policy subject to a limit of 20% of the available sum insured.


We understand that currently you have checked into a local Bed and Breakfast and await appropriate alternative accommodation. We have instructed Countrywide Lettings and Estate Management to arrange this and it has been confirmed that they have or will be in contact with you as a matter of urgency.
We also confirm that Pickfords Removals have been instructed to remove a number of your contents from the property and to be stored in a safe and secure location, until required at a later time. This will be covered under the Contents section of the Insurance Policy.
We understand that Pickfords visited site with you on Monday 17th January 2011 and we hope everything proceeded smoothly.
We trust we have provided an overview of the present position of your claim.

We will contact you again as developments occur but in the meantime, if you have any queries or anxieties, please let us know.

Yours sincerely,

norwichmanneil

30 January 2012


I refer to our telephone conversation on 25 January 2012 and take this opportunity to set out the current position relating to the claim for your building loss attributable to the subsidence event.

As advised, representatives of the Notre Dame School have expressed an interest in the purchase of the freehold site following completion of demolition works and the making good required to the exposed party wall of no.14 Finkelgate. Subject to reasonable offer, this appears an agreeable proposition for all interested parties. The alternative would be a sale by private treaty or sale at public auction, either way there is likely to be limited interest given the site conditions, the site location and the site constraints.

Crawford and Company do not generally involve themselves with a sale negotiation/transaction – it is outside our normal remit. However, in this situation, but subject to your specific agreement/authority, we are happy to act in order facilitate the sale process. Axa have already provided their authority for us to act in respect of their interest as building insurers.

Notre Dame have verbally advised an offer in the range of £7,000 to £10,000. The figure of £10,000 does not appear unreasonable and is unlikely to be increased by any significant margin. We would at least wish to counter the offer by requesting your reasonable costs of the conveyance as part of the agreement. The nett proceeds of the sale would then be paid direct to you as the property freeholder.

For the purpose of the insurance claim the nett sum (£10,000) would then be deducted from the assessed/agreed value of the property if it were without the subsidence damage. We have previously detailed this value at £125,000. With your agreement to this sum, the agreed reduction in value (due to the subsidence would equate to £115,000.

As you appreciate, there have been further sums incurred associated with the emergency attendance at the property, temporary supports and shoring, site protections, and investigation costs. There will also be further charges and engineers fees associated with the demolition and site clearance and the work required to make good the exposed areas of the party wall to no.14. These charges have yet to finalised (demolition quotes awaited) but will approximate in total to about £90,000.






The overall building loss on this basis would equate to £205,000 (£115,000 + £90,000) subject to the £500 subsidence excess. However, the sum insured limit available under the insurance policy is £127,000 plus a further 10% (of the sum insured) provision for debris removal and professional fees giving an overall limit figure payable under the terms and conditions of the policy of £139,700. Axa will continue making payments in respect of the further costs of site protection, support, demolition and the making good of the no.14 party wall up to the projected sum of £90,000 which on the basis of these (currently estimated figures) would leave a balancing payment due to you under the terms of the policy of £49,700 (against the loss in value of the property of £115,000). The balancing figure of £49,700 will need to be adjusted when final costs of demolition and site clearance have been determined.

Please confirm you are happy for us to proceed with the sale negotiation on your behalf as detailed.

Your concerns about the limited funds available under the policy are noted and it is understood you intend to raise this matter with insurers when final costs have been established.

Please let me know if there is any further aspect requiring clarification or consideration at the present time.


Yours sincerely,

Archergirl

Do you have legal insurance? Could you go to you local MP for help? This is crazy, I feel so very sorry for you, the last few years must have been hell, hope 2014 gets it sorted for you.

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

Unfortunately Legal Insurance if taken usually is bought with home insurance and might contain an exception that prevents actions against AXA - worth a careful look though.

Neil please check your Personal Message Inbox.

Sally_A

Sheesh Neil, this seems so wrong. Just got my AXA ABC policy out of the unopened envelope dated 2011 - 2012; yes I understand removal of debris, architects fees etc. should be taken into account, but didn't know they could amount to nearly £100,000! How many of the general public do know the costs of all that? Embarrassingly I'm a broker, and my own policy is arranged through work. My bet is the person that wrote the policy had no idea of associated costs either. If I was AXA I'd be paying you in full and thanking you for pointing out a flaw in their policy.


By putting a 10% clause on, as you have mentioned before, you'd have to insure the buildings for £1m.


Wouldn't insurers be better off advising people to insure debris removal etc. for £100k and have it as a separate item rather than a % of the Bldgs Sum Insd? Even without their decision to shore up the demolition was £43,000.


When I'm back in on Tuesday, I will also be re-reading the commercial policies I've placed with AXA.


I hope you win this one!

Archergirl

When I'm back in on Tuesday, I will also be re-reading the commercial policies I've placed with AXA.

That would be fab, I have used them in the past but I won't be in the future, it does make you wonder though if they are all the same....

dacouch

Archergirl wrote: »

When I'm back in on Tuesday, I will also be re-reading the commercial policies I've placed with AXA.

That would be fab, I have used them in the past but I won't be in the future, it does make you wonder though if they are all the same....

The cost of clearing debris is taken out of the building sum insured by most policies.

Sally_A

dacouch wrote: »

The cost of clearing debris is taken out of the building sum insured by most policies.

Agree Dacouch - but by putting a 10% limit on debris removal, rather than Neil saying I'll have £127,000 for rebuild and £100,000 for debris removal, shoring up, architects fees etc. He has to pay for £1m of bldgs. cover, rather than £227,000.


If Neil had insured the house for £227,000, AXA were still not playing by the rules of their own contract, as they still paid out more than 10% on the debris/shoring up bit.


If I were Neil, I'd say "give me the £127,000, and let the shorer uppers, demolishers have £12,700 and chase the waterboard (if they were negligent) for the balance.


This has all been handled squiffily. by insurers and loss adjusters.

Sally_A

Archergirl wrote: »

When I'm back in on Tuesday, I will also be re-reading the commercial policies I've placed with AXA.

That would be fab, I have used them in the past but I won't be in the future, it does make you wonder though if they are all the same....

Briefly read the online Motor Trade policy in pdf, the only section the 10% debris removal clause came up was under the computer section. ??? I prefer to have a paper policy booklet in front of me to scribble on and stick post it notes to.


Will seriously challenge them and ask for endorsement to be added if need be.


Not forgetting that the majority of buildings claims do not require removal of debris (OK a £150 skip), architects fees or shoring up.


I'm guessing my House Insurance buildings rate here is approx. £1.50 per £1000. Why not have the removal of debris/architects fees section at £0.15 per £1000 on top? Or just charge £1.65 per £1000 with unlimited Debris removal clause?


Nah...they won't do that, as they won't appear at the top of the comparison charts - so best do as a separate section, explaining to the online buyer how important that cover could be.


AXA could make a PR killing out of that extra cover, using Neil's experience.


At the end of the day, people spend more money and take more care on contents cover than buildings, especially techno gizmos. To me, a roof over my head is more important than any contents.