Home Insurance claim becoming a nightmare

LALA999

I made an insurance claim due to water damage several months ago, and the Insurers have been abysmal. They seemed to agree to the claim but suddenly after 6 months they decided to send round a Loss Adjuster who then sent a Surveyor who called me a liar and said that there was no water damage! They have ignored my emails and I don't want to speak to them as they say one thing and do another. And I have just received a letter from their Solicitor advising me that they have been instructed to recover the Insurers outlay from the Water authority. They have not yet done any repairs, we have been living with extensive damage since February!
It's a long story and I just want to make sure this is the right place to ask for advice before I go into more detail.

Hasbeen

I think you have to go into more detail to get beneficial advice?

LALA999

I know, I just wanted to make sure this was the right forum first. Well, I hope you're sitting comfortably...


Back in February I discovered that the hall floor was wet under the carpet. I contacted my Insurance company and they said they could not initiate a claim until I had identified the cause! We eventually discovered that an old water main which should have been disconnected several years ago was still active, and that water had been leaking from it and come through the floor.


It took the water authority 3 months to finally disconnect the supply. During that time they advised me to contact my Insurer.


I did so in March, and they sent a Claims Advisor round, who then sent a contractor to quote for the repairs. After the water was disconnected, in May, they sent someone to dry out the hall. which finished in July.
The Insurers repair schedule did not include some problems which we thought were related so I asked for a second opinion and was advised to get a Survey and that the cost would be covered if it proved to include those things.
It did, and in mid-August I sent a copy to the Insurers who then took several weeks before sending their Contractor back in October to amend the schedule. The Claims Advisor said she would send me an amended copy, but I didn't receive it. and the next day I was advised that a Loss Adjuster had been appointed (7 months after the claim was made). I accept this decision but don't know why it took so long. He asked me for a copy of my Survevor's Report which he had not been given. He asked whether my family members had criminal records (we don't!), and said he was there to represent both us and the Insurer equally, even though he had come as a result of the updated work schedule which we had not been shown.
He sent a Surveyor round the following week who was extremely rude and offensive. He had been given the work schedule but said he hadn't been given any other information. He complained about that several times, but when I suggested that he should have postponed his visit until he had the necessary information he backtracked and said sometimes it was useful to see a property first! During his visit as I explained the history of the case he said 'I don't believe you' several times! He kept saying he didn't understand when I was explaining things, (nobody else had any problem), and that it wasn't my fault or his fault!
He said that houses of this age are often damp and that he had no evidence of any involvement by the water authority. He had no evidence of anything at that point! I later sent him an extensive list of my contacts with them, including names and references, and my Surveyor's Report, which he had not been given either.
He repeated some of the things I said but twisted my words so I had to keep repeating myself. I was so annoyed with him I had to resist the urge to throw him out.


Both the Loss Adjuster and Surveyor made derogatory remarks about the fact that I had paid for the Survey, implying that it was therefore biased.


2 weeks later, having heard nothing, I emailed the 2 Claims Advisors I had been in contact with previously. One of my emails was 'deleted without being read', the other received no reply.
Today (a few days later) I received a letter from their Solicitor advising me that they have been instructed to recover the Insurers outlay and will be claiming in my name! Shouldn't the insurers have discussed this with me? And they haven't even carried out any repairs!


We have been living with an uncovered concrete floor in the hall since the carpet and parquet flooring were removed by the Insurers contractors in May, before they dried out the hall with dehumidifiers and fans. The plaster is peeling off the walls, and the woodwork has rotted. There is also extensive damage outside, and less so inside in adjacent rooms.
The Loss Adjuster asked whether they had tested for asbestos in the bitumen which they broke up on the hall floor. I don't think they did, and some of it is still there and has been exposed for the past 6 months. Is this a hazard?


I don't know where to go from here. It's very depressing living with this with no prospect of it being resolved, and my children don't like inviting their friends round to our messy house. I wish we had just gone to the water authority for the costs and not via the Insurers, who seem to have made things worse. I will try to email this to someone more senior at the Insurers later today.


There have been more issues along the way, but these are the main points.


Any constructive advice would be very gratefully received.

David_InsDef

I would copy and paste pretty much what you've written above. Add the words formal complaint to the top and 'I wish to complain about the excessive time you have taken to settle my claim' at the bottom.

Sign it and send it recorded delivery to the Insurance Company.

Quentin

As your insurers are now pursuing you to repay their outlay over your claim, then it looks like ultimately you may have your day in court to prove them wrong!


As far as the solicitor is concerned you can simply write replying you don't owe the money as you made a genuine claim which is ongoing and leave the ball in their court. If they continue to pursue you then consider getting your own legal advice.


As far as the claim goes, consider getting your own Assessor to deal with your claim on your behalf.

David_InsDef

Quentin wrote: »

As your insurers are now pursuing you to repay their outlay over your claim, then it looks like ultimately you may have your day in court to prove them wrong!


As far as the solicitor is concerned you can simply write replying you don't owe the money as you made a genuine claim which is ongoing and leave the ball in their court. If they continue to pursue you then consider getting your own legal advice.


As far as the claim goes, consider getting your own Assessor to deal with your claim on your behalf.

The insurers are not pursuing the OP - they're invoking their subrogation rights to recover their outlay from the Water Authority - but in the OP's name.

LALA999

Thank you for your replies. I will send the complaint as suggested.

ripplyuk

Quentin wrote: »

As far as the claim goes, consider getting your own Assessor to deal with your claim on your behalf.

Could you explain that Quentin? Are there people you can hire to deal with these sort of claims?

Quentin

Yes.


Google "loss assessor" to see their role.

LALA999

UPDATE - A month after I sent a formal complaint they have offered me a cash settlement which only covers part of the work inside the house, and none outside. I have asked them a few times to send me a copy of their surveyors report but they have not. Am I entitled to see it?
Also, the contractor they sent to estimate the work phoned me last week and suggested I ring them to speed things up! He obviously wants the job but I suspect he overpriced it, which may have caused the change of attitude. Should I report his phone call?
Lastly, are they allowed to suddenly backtrack and reduce the extent of repairs which they had previously agreed to?
If they had said from the outset that they would not cover the outside work I would have made a claim directly from the water authority which they knew was an option.But 9 months later that choice has been undermined.
Any advice is welcome, thank you.

magpiecottage

Clearly you are not satisfied with the response to the complaint.

I recommend you fill in this form. Keep a copy but print of a hardcopy, sign and date it and send it to the address on it. Get proof of posting (free from the post office.