Insurance claim and Thames Water

Joysee1770

Hi, I'm new to the forum so please bear with me if I make mistakes :doh: It's quite a long drawn out story but I'll try to be as concise as I can!

Our house is an end of terrace and Thames Water's drains which service 3 other houses run on our property. Over the years we have had to call them out on many occasions to clear the blocked drains. Last year we noticed that our kitchen and hallway were becoming increasingly damp. The plaster on the outside wall in the kitchen had blown and there was a constant foul smell. Our kitchen cupboards kept falling apart (backs coming off, plinths splitting etc). Our wood flooring starting to curl up and our internal doors and skirting started to swell at the bottom.

We had our kitchen stripped out along with the oak flooring and skirting in December. We then had the kitchen plastered. The smell worsened and we realised that it was a bigger issue involving the drains. The plaster on the outside wall didn't dry out. We called Thames Water out about the drains and they came and cleared the sewage drains. I asked them if the waste water drain which appeared to also smell was anything to do with them to which they categorically said "no".

We contacted our insurance company Tesco. I explained our situation to them including the fact that my husband has blood cancer and is on chemotherapy and that I have arthritis. They sent out a loss adjuster from Cunningham Lindsay who met with a builder we had instructed and he agreed it could be the soak away. He stated that although the soak away repair may not be covered by our policy, the trace and access would be. He also suggested that as we were a "vulnerable" family we should be moved out of the property as we did not have a fully functioning kitchen and severe damp issues. He asked to submit just one building quote for the trace and access which we did.

Cunningham Lindsay contacted in us to say that Tesco had authorised temporary accommodation and that ICAB (Insurance Claims Accommodation Bureau) would be in touch to make arrangements. My husband is still trying to go to work it is really important that we are near a train station and also near my children's schools. Eventually, we found a suitable property but it took 4 months to find one where the landlord would accept a 6 month break clause. In all that time were were left in our house without a kitchen, bare floorboards and damp issues.

On the day we were due to sign the tenancy agreement ICAB received notification from Tesco that the authorisation for temporary accommodation had been withdrawn. We spent days on the phone to Tesco, Cunningham Lindsay and ICAB trying to find out what was going on. We were then told by Tesco that the claim needed further investigation. We were absolutely devastated but they refused to budge so we raised a complaint with Tesco.

Tesco appointed a customer relations manager to oversee our claim. We were told that we had to instruct a drainage company to do a full survey of our drains. We asked if we needed more than one quote and were assured that we didn't.

We called our a drainage company for a full report and paid £500 for the privilege. The drainage company made a hole in our living room wall to gain access to our soil pipe to confirm it wasn't leaking. We received a full report which stated that the drain at the side of our property was unable to be fully surveyed as it was blocked and possibly broken.

Cunningham Lindsay then said that they wanted to send our their own drainage company CET. They attended and carried out a full survey and discovered that the catch pit on our drive was overflowing as all the silt and stagnant water had been flowing back into our property. CET called Thames Water who attended within 20 minutes. Initially, Thames Water denied responsibility for the surface water drain but CET pointed out that as it services 3 other properties and runs into a main sewer it is the responsibility of Thames Water. Together the engineers cleared the pipe/drain leading to the side of our house.

The CET report was sent to Cunningham Lindsay. Tesco contacted me to confirm that the blockages were really bad and one of the worst that the CET engineer had ever seen. They then requested that a restoration company attend our property to see the extent of the damage and to quote for sanitisation and drying out.

Belfor came and the agent said that the outside wall had the worse damp reading possible of 999. He did salts tests which confirmed that the water was coming upwards and not in through our rendering. He found mould and efflorescence under our floorboards in our kitchen and hallway. He also confirmed that we should not be living in our conditions without a fully functioning kitchen and that everything would be contaminated. He said that the full extent of damage would not be know until the property was clear and they could look under all the floorboards.

The smell continued and Thames Water attended our property a further 3 times. On the 3rd occasion the engineer stated that the drain was NOT their responsibility. My husband called Thames Water and asked why as we are quite clearly being charged for the maintenance of the surface water drain.

Eventually (after numerous visits from Thames Water) a full survey was carried out on the drains. It was discovered that there is a displacement on the pipe leading from the catch pit to the sewer and that the main pipe (which takes the surface water away) is actually broken in so many places it needs to be replaced. The main drain was so impacted with silt that it took 2 engineers about a hour to dig through it before they could even see the pipes. The engineer was unable to get a full survey as the pipe leading to the end of our road was so blocked and had so many displacements that his camera would not go through.

Finally, after 4 hours of investigation the engineer confirmed that it was Thames Water's responsibility and that the damage to our property had been caused by their negligence. We contacted Cunningham Lindsay to report their findings. Cunningham Lindsay assured me that the insurance would pay for any damage to our home and that all losses would be recovered from Thames Water.

Tesco are now, it would seem, loathe to help us on our claim as they are not sure of their 'liability' and that maybe we should go the legal route as if we make a claim it will affect our premiums! I called the Tesco claims helpline to ask if we have legal cover. It was confirmed that we do but we would have to submit a claims form (after following Thames Water's claims procedure) to see if we are covered!!!!!

After yet more chasing phone calls to Tesco I asked why the damage would not be covered as surely they would recover the losses from Thames Water as they had previously stated. They have now, begrudgingly agreed that they will cover the damage to our home and that authorised temporary accommodation for 6 months only.

There is a property for rent in our road but the landlord will only accept a 12 month let. ICAB confirmed that this is the worst possible time to try for a 6 months let as they landlords do not want to have to re-let their properties in January/February. Tesco will not authorise a 12 month let. We do understand that the works may only take 3 months to carry out but no-one knows the full extent of the damage or the works required.

We are at a total loss now. We are still in our damp property and still without a kitchen. We have bare floorboards and the rendering all around our property is falling off. All we want is for our home to be put back together before the winter.

We have never received a written response to our complaint to Tesco although I was told verbally that they admit the claim/we have been treated very badly. The complaints manager confirmed that the claim had been 'mishandled'. We are aware that if we go to the Ombudsman it will be a lengthy process but it seems no-one is interested in our claim.

The stress and living conditions are really taking their toll on our family. My husband's consultant has said he simply cannot remain in this situation. His latest blood results show renal complications.

I am so sorry for this mammoth post but we are at the end of our tether and have no idea which way to go. Any advice would be gratefully received. Many thanks.

paddyandstumpy

What peril have Tesco agreed to cover the claim under?

Joysee1770

Water damage I think; they haven't actually said.

paddyandstumpy

Ok so if there is a valid claim under an insured peril; then you are entitled to alternative accommodation. Push back to Tescso that they have an obligation to provide this.

The one pitfall you may now come up against is that the alternative accomodation limit may not cover 12 months house rental but could cover 6 months?

If that's the case, you'll be liable for any rent over and above their alt accomo limit.