home insurance offer after water damage

mart321

hi all, i had a power cut in the house over christmas. the electrician found there was a problem with the circuit downstairs but wasnt sure what. the house was built in 1930, has never been rewired but has had a new board put on and additions over the years. he ended up finding damp under the circuit box, so i lifted the floorboards and found 2 inches of water across the whole of the downstairs. i do not live in an area that floods near a river or anything like that. i bought a wet vacuum and sucked out over 500 litres of water, the sub floor had been concreted out by someone to about 500mm below the floorboards. i then found a fist sized hole in the concrete where the water was rising out from. i summised that it was the water table due to the fact the water was rising from the hole. anyway within a day the water had returned.

anyway fast forward a few weeks and axa home insurance explained to me "we dont normally cover damage from water table rises, but we might be able to because of the abnormal amount of rain we have had"
They sent out a loss adjuster from cunningham and lindsay. when he looked the water was gone! presumably because there hadnt been much rain the following weeks. he confirmed the water is almost certainly caused by a high water table with all the recent rains we have had.
we have have had quotes for fitting a damp proof membrane underneath with a level of stones and a few inches of concrete and sealing the house. this was over 5k, we also had a quote for redoing the drive and fitting aqua drains.

the loss adjusters have now informed us that they will not pay for anything to remedy this problem as they will not pay for any remedial costs and that it is nothing to worry about, he said a lot of old houses have water under them and that no damage had been caused. he also said to get the electric cables tied to the joists as they were running across the concrete and submerged underwater. after a bit of umming and ahhing they have now "accepted full liability" but only agreed to pay for new carpets as they were smelling damp and for the downstairs costs of a rewire as the circuit was damaged by water.

we are now in a position where the problem has not been fixed and cant see the point in getting new carpets as it will just happen again, i also have two young children, one who suffers with asthma and one who is 3 months old. the insurance company know about this as they have given us some dehumidifiers to use on the night. i cant see how living with water under floorboards is an option, is there anything else i can do?

TSx

The insurance will not pay to improve your property - e.g put things in which weren't there before. They will pay for anything damaged by the water. It does sound like it's a one off event as it hasn't happened before - if you want to install a damp proof course, that will be down to you.

rs65

Could you not just plug the hole?

FutureGirl

Rise in the water table is not covered - it isn't an insured incident. From what you say it sounds as if they're covering the carpets under either the Accidental Damage, or Storm section of the policy.

DPM, Aqua drains, and re-doing the drive are all things you don't currently have, and are preventative measures, so they wouldn't cover that cost. Your insurers aren't there to protect your property, just put you back in the position you were in before the incident happened.

Your policy doesn't cover you for the issue, therefore it's on you to get the issue dealt with. They have covered you for the resultant water damage to the carpets.

If you're aware it'll happen again your only option is to get the issue dealt with. If it happens again, the insurer might not cover the resultant water damage (as you were aware it could happen again but did nothing to prevent it)

mart321

Thanks for the replies, yes I understand these repairs are improvements so they won't be coverered. This Is my first ever insurance claim so I'm not too clued up on what I can and can't claim for, just wanted to check with some ppl on here who are more in the know than me.
When the house is being rewired, I will have to move out for up to 2 weeks while the work is being done. They also said it will be quite dusty for a few days afterwards. Will my insurance pay for my family to stay in accommodation for this time? They have already agreed to partial payment for the rewire and the house will be uninhabitable. What about food etc?

FutureGirl

I would think that, as the insurer are paying for the damage (IE the re-wiring) they would cover you for alternative accommodation. They would likely appoint a company to do this, or would ask you to go into a reasonably priced hotel.

Alternative Accommodation will cover you if the property is uninhabitable, IE no toilet facilities, no electric, or no water, no cooking facilities.

So, what is going to take the 2 weeks? Is that just for the re-wiring? Once the electrics are re-wired and up and running, you would move back in. You don't need to be moved elsewhere for plastering / decorating / clearing the dust etc.

For food, they would give you a small allowance. As you'd have to pay for food anyway. It's usually £10 per adult per day, and £5 per child per day.