Flooded Property Insurance Problems - Two Stories from Carlisle

DampHouse

I wonder if anyone could help suggest what to do in the following situation. I understand there is an ombudsman, but the situation requires more urgent action, potentially legal in nature.

In the recent floods in Carlisle, my wife and I's home was flooded, as was my brother's (he and his wife have two childen, 1 and 3). My insurance policy, sold by Halifax, has employed Polygon Group to deal with our claim. We've moved home to a temporary place, had everything in the property assessed and removed, have driers in the house and our builder has stripped the plaster off and been paid to do so.

My brother's policy was sold through Policy Expert, and is being handled by Trinity Claims. Everything is the opposite to our experience, they're being pressured to accept a settlement based on a report which, amongst numerous errors, even misses off a room in the house. The value of the work, they say, is around £20,000. Their builder suggests double this. Their report, apart from the missing room, doesn't including any allowance for redecorating (usual when you've had to re-plaster), fireplaces and countless other issues. With their contents, they went through everything with a loss adjuster, who photographed everything, then they removed the damaged items from the property. Today, they've refused to accept the value of the contents (now thrown away) and mysteriously don't have the photographs they took.

There's never a good time of year to be flooded, but just before Christmas with two little ones is the worst - and though they're safe and living with my parents, this mess is causing terrible stress and anxiety.

The right to refer complaints to the Ombudsman is one thing, but this needs more urgent, rapid action. Can anyone suggest any things we could try?

rs65

DampHouse wrote: »

The right to refer complaints to the Ombudsman is one thing, but this needs more urgent, rapid action. Can anyone suggest any things we could try?

The first step is a complaint to the insurer, before you get to the ombudsman stage. No harm in starting that now.


I am generally reluctant to go to complaint stage as it can actually slow the process down but in your brothers case he might get some action if he stresses the urgency.


Might be worthwhile appointing a loss assessor to look after his interest but that would be at his cost and wouldn't necessarily speed things up.

FutureGirl

The only way forward will be to complain with the insurer, if your brother does't like the outcome, then he will need to complain to FOS.

For the buildings works and decorating works etc, get the insurer to do the work by employing a contractor. Might have to wait a little longer for the works to be done, but that way if there are any issues with the work it rests on them and not your brother.

dwizzle

Policy Expert and Trinity Claims are appalling. They offered me a derisory sum which I did not accept. They employed contractors, who shall be nameless at this stage, who have turned my house into a tip and are cutting corners all the time. I would recommend everyone stays well clear. I will be making a formal complaint at the end of this awful period.