Offer made but issues over claim

OriginalNelly

Hello all. I'n new to the forum, although I've read through it many years now, so hopefully some wise words will come my way.

We put a claim in through AXA Insurance following damage from a burst pipe that damaged our floor, walls and electrics etc. An assessor from BVS, their appointed loss adjusters, gave us an offer of £4,500 + vat. Having already obtained two separate independent quotes ourselves, we felt that this well short of the amount required to complete the works to a decent standard on London prices.

I declined the offer and asked for a breakdown of the offer to indicate what figures had been allowed for the replacement Oak floor, labour, waste removal etc but have been refused this information. They have instead asked me to obtain a breakdown from my builders quotes to compare prices. As anyone will know, obtaining a breakdown from most builders is not that simple!

Are AXA within their rights to refuse to give me a breakdown of costs and what steps should I be taking to get this remedied?

Thanks

paddyandstumpy

2 aspects to this.

The loss adjuster will have based the quote on what it will cost Axa to reinstate the damage, but it sounds like you're trying to cash settle?
Have they not offered you to use their own tradespeople to fix this? The insurers liability is limited to what it would cost them to repair/reinstate. If you choose to use your own tradespeople they will limit their settlement to what it would cost them using their own (hope that makes sense).

Regarding the schedule of works from your builders, unless they are informal quotes I'd be surprised if they aren't itemised. It's common to list out what the quote covers, so the goalposts don't creep and the customer tries to squeeze more from the builder.

You say your insurance is with Axa, is it Axa branded policy documents or are they just the underwriter? Knowing which product you have will go a long way in helping you (once we can see the wording).

rs65

OriginalNelly wrote: »

As anyone will know, obtaining a breakdown from most builders is not that simple!

Are AXA within their rights to refuse to give me a breakdown of costs

Eh? .

csgohan4

why not get AXA to replace like for like?

TSx

In terms of providing a cost breakdown, insurers and builders will have agreed schedules of rates, these cover the most common tasks (some of ours have thousands of items on) - for instance, the cost of a painter for an hour, the cost to install a metre of skirting board etc.

These schedules of rates are confidential between the insurer and the builder - it could prejudice negotiations with other insurers if they knew they were only charging £x for something to AXA. Even with something like the Oak Flooring, it could reveal the mark up % they charge.

For that reason, it is accepted that breakdowns of costs are commercially sensitive and the insurer does not need to provide them. What they should provide you with is a schedule of work - so an uncosted list of everything they have included, and details of any materials that they will be using if you request them.

As above, they should also be offering you the option of doing the work for you - this is generally a better idea any way as you retain full protection of the Financial Ombudsman for the quality of the work, and for any problems which occur in the near future. If something goes wrong with your own builder, you'll be on your own in terms of resolving any issues.

If you really do want your own builders to do the work, then it's in your best interests to provide the breakdown they're looking for - it's mainly to check if they've missed anything. It's unlikely that the price will increase though - if that's what they can do it for, that's what you're entitled to.

Finally, if they haven't offered you the services of their building network, they either need to - or they need to provide you with a cash settlement which will allow you to complete the work. If this is the case, I'd suggest ringing the insurer on Monday and asking them to record a formal complaint (some here will suggest writing) - they then have 8 weeks to resolve at which point you can escalate for free to the Financial Ombudsman