Insurance company not covering their own repair work

JennieCharm

Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone could provide a bit of advice about home insurance claims? I'm asking on behalf of my Ma.

In 2010 my parents made a claim on their insurance for some storm damage to the roof tiles. The underwriter (for Swinton) sent out a roofer to do the repairs.

Since then my Dad walked out and Ma has the insurance in her own name, but still through Swinton (a different underwriter though). She'd been putting up with a damp wall and ceiling for ages then eventually had a roofer (a different one) take a look and he said the replacement ridge tiles and the other replacement tiles (all the work undertaken by the previous roofer) were sealed with silicone and it's now weather-worn.
There are some ridge tiles put on by a previous owner when a chimney was taken out which are porous, but this wasn't noticed by the previous roofer.

So Ma contacted Swinton and after struggling to get them to understand that the previous claim was in my dad's name and this time it's in hers, they eventually agreed to sent out an assessor. The assessor said there was a valid claim and they'd give Ma the money and she could use her own roofer, or they could send out the previous one. She chose the money.

A few weeks on, the underwriter phoned and said they wouldn't cover it as they didn't cover dodgy work and she'd have to get on to the previous roofer.

Considering they sent out the roofer and Ma had no say, surely they should cover his dodgy work and Ma shouldn't have to be chasing this?

In the meantime she has a roofer of her choosing doing the work as we speak, which Ma will have to pay for out of her own pocket and she's now wondering what the point is of having insurance.

Can anyone advise?
Thank you in advance.

Quentin

She needs to make a formal complaint in line with their complaints procedure which will be set out in the policy docs.

She should put in the complaint why she instructed her own repairer (following the information given by the adjuster) and then escalate to the FOS if unhappy with the reply.

dacouch

Quentin's advice is spot on.

Bear in mind the porous ridge tiles you refer to that the roofer did not replace are probably not covered by the Insurer as I assume the original claim was for storm damage. If this is the case and the porous tiles were not damaged by the storm they would not be covered as this would be regarded as a maintenance issue for the home owner

rs65

JennieCharm wrote: »

A few weeks on, the underwriter phoned and said they wouldn't cover it as they didn't cover dodgy work and she'd have to get on to the previous roofer.

Sounds like Swinton put it to the new insurer as a new claim, and it quite correctly isn't covered.

Do you know if the assessor was looking at it for the current or previous insurer?