home insurance claim and repair process

TEDDYRUKSPIN

Dear all,

Sorry for posting this in two places. I'm not sure which section it should go in. Very sorry.

Like below, I'm waiting and very stressed. So need some help.

I need your wise wisdom and help from people who have gone through the home claims process.

Unfortunately since 6pm yesterday, we noticed a substantial leak come through the living room ceiling whilst coming home from work. The first thing we did was to isolate the cold water stop !!!! to prevent any further damage.

After phoning co-op insurance, we got transferred to home rescue plus for help which they came out quite quickly. They could not locate the leak but suspected a leaking pipe work between the ceiling and the bathroom. They told us that we would have to wait at least tomorrow. They would have to phone their boss and the insurance company to even start anything.

Now, I'm quite stressed at the moment as we have never made a claim and especially no water in the house.

I don't know the process on what we should do and we have been told to wait. We have no water in the house and I have had to take the day off.

What should I be doing?

I'm stressed because they need to find and stop the leak to restore water at least. Next do they recommend someone to repair the ceiling and potentially and rotten ceiling boards?

I can see the ceiling is bulging out and patches near the lights too.

Should I just wait or start to find some contractors?

They have asked Cunningham and Lyndsay to get back to me.

Really stressed and need your help. Hope you can help.

InsideInsurance

So you have two separate elements going on.

There is the Home Emergency Insurance element which is to deal with the leak itself and then there is the Building Insurance element which is to deal with the damage the leak has caused.

Whilst your insurers may appoint loss adjusters to deal with things on the ground for you your contract is ultimately with your insurers and if you arent happy with anything etc then its the insurer you need to be in contact with.

They cannot find the leak so you have to wait 24hrs+ without water doesnt sound reasonable to me and I would certainly be back on to my insurers to get them to pull their finger out. With no running water the property is basically uninhabitable and they either need to fix it or provide alternative accommodation until they can get round to it.

TEDDYRUKSPIN

Thank you for the reply.Just a quick update. I've been on the phone all morning and been bounced about so much.

Coop use Cunningham and Lyndsay who have not been helpful. In terms of what is happening, I am stuck in the middle.

They will not do anything until the leak is repaired. But they can not recommend anyone. They all mentioned I must pay for the trace and access for the leak.

Coop customer representatives have told me that they are happy to pay for it.

Now, I'm stuck. The coop home rescue plus have got me in the middle. The contractor they use is called dyno - rod. They have told me they will not come out this morning. The representative told me they should never tell you that they will come out.

Erm? No water at all?

I asked about accommodation. Cunningham and Lyndsay told me they will not pay for it as they only come in after the leak is repaired?

The home rescue plus side told me that I can claim up to £100 but pay and claim policy. Just to note, maximum £100.

This is becoming a major nightmare.

Any ideas? How should I speed the process?

Do any of you know how much it will cost to get someone out to trace the leak?

InsideInsurance

You ultimately need to read the exact terms of the policy to see what your insurers liabilities are. In particular look at the home emergency section as them just brushing it off doesnt sound acceptable.

I had a similar issue with a HE claim where dynarod was appointed and did a real botch job and ended up with over £400 compensation covering getting another company out, extra damage caused whilst waiting and inconvenience etc - in my case they even lied on the job sheet the submitted to the insurer saying they'd fixed it but the paper form I had confirmed they'd left unable to fix it - my plumber actually resolved the problem before they even knocked on the front door (still charged £100 or so)

By a leak, are we talking about a slow leak and this has all built up over a long time or are we talking something more gushing with water and this has sprung and caused all the damage in under 24 hrs?

Gra76

Firstly, don't panic. Nothing will go quicker by panicing. It's a stressful time no doubt, but you need to take a step back and deal with it in an organised manor if you want things to progress.

Co-op are your insurers but the chances are they don't have any in-house adjusters so they've passed your claim onto Cunningham Lyndsey who are a loss adjusting company who will deal with the claim on behalf of Co-op. They will come out and see you to determine the cause of the damage and the damage done once the leak has been repaired. There's no point them coming before then as there may be further damage caused in tracing and repairing the leak.

Your number one priority is to get the leak repaired. If I've read it correctly and Co-op have told you that it's your responsibility to have the leak traced, accessed and repaired then you need to get on the phone to a plumber asap. You can use anyone you like, it doesn't have to be Dynarod. Your insurers will pay for the damage caused by the water but not the cost to get the leak repaired.

Once the leak is repaired let Cunningham Lyndsey know and they'll appoint a loss adjuster to visit you. Don't expect things to happen instantly. Chances are their adjusters are already booked in to see other claims already so you'll have to join the queue I'm afraid.

If it's anything like the repair networks our company works on they'll usually offer you 3 options. 1 - Cash to repair it yourself (don't take it, they always offer much lower than it'll actually end up costing you). 2 - A contractor from their building repair network (last I remember it was called Repairnet) or 3 - They might ask you if you want to appoint a builder of your own choice.

What you do is up to you.

First and foremost....get on the phone to a plumber and get that leak repaired!

TSx

It seems like you have Home Rescue Plus from the Co-op. This will be a seperate home emergency policy, which is why the confusion is happening (as Cunningham and Lindsay will have been appointed purely for the resultant damage, not the emergency repairs).

The best thing to do would be to get back on the phone to Home Rescue Plus on 0845 607 6472 (not Cunningham Lindsay) to find out when they are planning on coming out. If today, then you will need to wait for them - if not, then they should be paying up to £100 towards overnight accommodation as per the page I linked to.

edit: I actually missed the part of your post where you mentioned the accommodation - £100 is the limit in the policy so shouldn't have come as a shock. You could argue their wording says "in the event of the Home becoming uninhabitable and remaining so overnight we shall additionally, at your request, arrange and pay up to £100 in total for overnight accommodation, including transport to such accommodation." and try to get them to just arrange somewhere for you to stay tonight.

weejonnie

If the home IS uninhabitable then it is quite likely that the cost of alternative accommodation (up to a certain amount but a lot more than £100) will be covered under the Buildings insurance. Unfortunately I don't have the policy to hand. Still worthwhile asking the Co-op about it.

TSx

It's likely this means the home being uninhabitable as a result of the water damage - so for example, the water trips out the electrics, then the home is uninhabitable as a result of water damage. If it's purely because there's no water, then as it's not uninhabitable due to something not covered on the buildings insurance, the alternative accommodation extension doesn't apply.

TEDDYRUKSPIN

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to the post. Part of the stress is over. I had to wait over 36 hours for someone to come and fix the leak. This is ridiculous. The insurance company would not move on the leak repair.

Co-op were happy to pay for the trace and access to find the leak.

The leak is now repaired I think. It has not been leaking for 4 hours. So crossing fingers it is sorted.

I now have the following problems to rectify and would appreciate what choice I have. Just to note, a loss adjuster will be coming out next week.

(1) Ceiling damage to water leak. I'm not an expert but the ceiling will require a patch work, reskimming, and painting. The insurance company have asked me to obtain two quotes from local tradesmen as they are inundated with work from their own contracters.
Should I just pick up the yellow pages to find them? Will I need a paper quotation to show them? They asked for a breakdown.

(2) Some water went through the lighting on the ceiling. I've asked for an electrician to check the lighting. Is this correct?

(3) Leather sofa water damage. Unfortunately, the leather sofa took most of the water from the leak. It actually stinks at the moment. Do you know if the insurance people will pay for a new sofa or just ask me to let it dry out?

(4) Damage caused by finding the leak from Dyno-rod. Some of the cheap flooring in the bathroom was damaged whilst moving out the bathtub board. I'm not too bothered but the insurance company explained that they will not cover this. Is this normal?

(5) Loss of work time. I have lossed 3 day's of work. Have any of you been able to get this back from the insurance as payment?

Just to say thank you for taking the time to read the post.