Roof Leak,. Insurance not Interested !

Blackberry_Farm

My Friend bought a house only TWO years ago.
The Building surveyor said it was all good and flat roof above the kitchen had been recently maintained.


Last week with all the heavy rain it started leaking and the whole ceiling came down into the kitchen they had just put in £7,000 worth !


It took FIVE DAYS to get in touch with the insurance company as nobody was answering the phone !


Water was pouring into the kitchen after that and has lifted the new flooring.


Insurance came down and told her the roof was in a severe state of disrepair and refused to pay out on it...,,
ALSO., that there was NO POINT in claiming on the kitchen as it would put her premium up!


She only managed to get a roofer to put some tarp on the roof today almost 2 weeks after it started.


Water is still pouring in and flooding the house. She is in despair and just does not know what to do.


She does not have £5,000 or whatever to renew the roof.
(I imagine it will be a lot more )


Questions.....


Are the insurance company trying to get out of it by telling her NOT to claim on the kitchen, as it will put her premium up ?


Does she have any comeback on the building surveyor who told her the house was sound ?


Surely if she was told the roof was sound two years ago it still should be ?


Anyone any ideas how to help her ?


Donna x

plumb1_2

Blackberry_Farm wrote: »

Surely if she was told the roof was sound two years ago it still should be ?
Donna x

A lot can happen to a flat roof in2yrs, Was the survey just for mortgage purpose ? Or a full building survey?
Most insurance companies don't cover flat roofs as they suffer ware and tare most, but they should cover the cost of any damaged caused by the leak.
The insurance company say it in severe disrepair, get a roof to check it out and give a written report.
Claiming for the kitchen? that would depend on the cost of repair weather you claim or not, but anything over £1k i would claim, as i doubt the premiums would go up vastly.

xMonsoonx

Get an independent report regarding the flat roof and if anything other than wear and tear is confirmed as the cause of the damage submit to the insurer - the thing the insurer will be considering is 'but for' the storm would the damage to the roof occurred.

Re the internals, ask the insured for a scope of works so you can see what would be covered by the insurance policy. You can then request the cash settlement amount for the repairs to get confirmation of the repair cost and then decided if she wants to claim and how you would like to proceed - insurers approved supplier to do the repairs or cash settlement.