Need advice house insurance refused 81 year old man dying of cancer!

kesaluner

I really need some advice please help.
My uncle recently had a section of the wall fall down in the high winds. It has left him with a gaping hole in the side of the house, he is a 81 year old man dying of prostate and secondary bone cancer and he is in a very bad state. All of the bricks fell in front of the front door making access difficult.
He has lived in the house in excess of 60 years (the house was built in the 50's), and been insured for all his adult life. The insurance company took 2 days before anyone viewed it. The builders sent a report to the insurance company, and meanwhile scaffolding was erected.
My dad waited around for the surveyor as he was "on his way", yet they couldn't get hold of him, and a few days later the builders did the surveying ( it turns out apparently the surveyor was on his annual leave 1 surveyor for a big insurance company!?!?)
They have now turned around and said they will pay for the scaffolding as a good will gesture, but will not pay for any repairs, as apparently the house was built wrongly.
He has NEVER made a claim before. Now my dad has to climb up and fix the problem himself as we can't afford builders. ( My uncle cant access his funds because he cant sign his signature due to having a stroke but he doesn't have much savings anyway).
My mum will be contacting the ombudsman next week but can anyone offer any advice in the meantime???
Any help will be gratefully received because are the insurance company allowed to do this?

My dad is going to try and fix it quick before they take away the "complimentary" scaffolding.

tomtontom

In what way was it built wrongly? Are they referring to the original build or renovations?

neilmcl

kesaluner wrote: »

My dad is going to try and fix it quick before they take away the "complimentary" scaffolding.

And you're going to let him :eek:

Sorry to be be blunt, and I'm really sorry to hear about your dad, but as you brought it up, why aren't you and the rest of your family trying to sort this out rather than letting your 81 year old, terminally ill dad deal with it?

As far as insurance goes, it sounds like there are some fundamental, structural issues with the walls construction that has led to this so I can see why it wouldn't be covered.

piglet25

It is not the Dad who is ill, it is the Uncle.

hcb42

Unfortunately it does not matter if he has claimed or not before now

What matters is if the reason for the claim is an insured peril or not

a wall (of a house?) falling down in high winds seems bizarre

what specifically has happened?

kesaluner

Its not my dad its my uncle!!

Mojisola

hcb42 wrote: »

What matters is if the reason for the claim is an insured peril or not

a wall (of a house?) falling down in high winds seems bizarre

kesaluner wrote: »

He has lived in the house in excess of 60 years (the house was built in the 50's)

Especially when the house has been standing since the 1950s. If there was anything very wrong with the build, surely it would have become evident before now?

marliepanda

There are many ways to get access to his money - not being able to sign his signature means absolutely nothing.

This doesn't make much sense.

Bricks in front of a door making access difficult? You can't move bricks?

kesaluner

tomtontom wrote: »

In what way was it built wrongly? Are they referring to the original build or renovations?

They said not enough brick ties covering the skins of the wall and the cement was too sandy when the house was originally built

kesaluner

hcb42 wrote: »

Unfortunately it does not matter if he has claimed or not before now

What matters is if the reason for the claim is an insured peril or not

a wall (of a house?) falling down in high winds seems bizarre

what specifically has happened?

From the apex of the roof down has literally fell off... (about 4 foot of wall)

kesaluner

What me and my family are trying to do for my uncle's sake is to make the insurance company (aviva) pay for the work.
He has never had any problems with the house, surely as said above if something was wrong it would have become evident before now.

What i am asking is their any way to appeal the decision or to get the money back he has paid in for 60 odd years!?? Its completely out of order, and the whole estate was built by the same builder. Does that make all of the houses in that estate uninsurable?