Home insurance claim nightmare!!

mr_b1ggz

Hi!

I was hoping someone could help me with regards to some issues we have had with a home insurance claim. I'll try and keep it brief, but I'll outline what has happened up until now!

- We had pressure drop on our boiler in September last year. I called Homeserve and after 6 weeks of trying to find a leak, I finally found it myself after bringing the ceiling down (water was pouring into my sons room through his light on and off for a few weeks by this point!).
- Pipe was fixed in Oct by Homeserve and we made a claim on home insurance for repairs to the home.
- Insurance company came out and assessed the damage (ceiling, and floor in affected room and new floor in front room as water had damaged it from the initial leak) in Oct and said that heater and dehumidifiers will need to be installed for a few weeks as the wall was totally saturated with water (the water leak was just above the cavity in the wall so water was going straight down the cavity over 6 weeks).
- After many delays they finally installed the heaters in November for a week!
- They then didn't start to complete the work until December and finished installing the ceiling and re-plastering the affected room on Christmas Eve.
- My mother (the policy holder) ended up in hospital for 3 weeks due to the dust and mould from the open ceiling (shes a severe asthmatic). We refused for her to come home and she was rehoused whilst myself, and my wife and 4 children continued to reside at home.
- At the end of January the contractors returned to complete the work and on lifting the floor in the front room, found water in line with where the leak had occurred in the other room (water had travelled along the cavity and under the floor in the front room).
- They then stopped working as soon as they saw the mould & dampness and stated we had rising damp and now that we are not covered!! They left us with half a floor and old fibre underlay.
- We had a independent builder come out and check the floor who wrote a report to the insurance company stating that it was NOT damp. He also advised that the underlay is harmful and we should remove it before we inhale any hazardous dust. We did this and were left with a cold concrete floor!
- The insurance company then sent the same contractors to check the floor again an take samples and leave a heater and dehumidifier in our living room. We argued about the state they had left our house in and demanded to be rehoused, which they initially refused, but then agreed to. This was now the end of Feb!
- They were still adamant that we had rising damp and I had had enough so paid for this to be fixed separately.
- They finally finished completing the house (to a terrible standard) and we moved back in July 2018.
- In all of this our case handler could not be contacted and was never helpful when we could reach him. My wife had to chase them multiple times over the months and I even gave up my job to try and get it sorted as she was getting nowhere and my children were suffering (they put 6 of us in a 2 bedroom flat so space was a issue as we live in a 5 bedroom house).
- We complained to the ombudsman who have stated we are not entitled to compensation as I am not named on the policy (I am on the mortgage).
- They advised us to contact the insurance co for reimbursement of petrol etc which we have done, but again have been ignored.

Is there anybody that can advise me if there is anything that I can do? The work will need to be re-done at some point as the floor is already flexing (they had to lay it twice anyway as they made a mistake!) and I will have to pay!

I'm sorry for the long message (this is just a brief outline of what happened!!!) I just wanted to know, are the ombudsman correct in what they say? How can I get through to my insurance company? They are the largest insurance company in the UK by the way, so I find it very strange that they have dealt with the claim this way! It has literally taken them 10 months to put up a ceiling, plaster it, lay a floor and decorate!

Any help/advice will be appreciated, and once again sorry for the long post...its my first!!

Thanks in advance,
Hiten

pramsay13

Why are you not named on the insurance even though you live in the house?
Is your mother the only one named on the insurance as living in the house?
What is the ombudsman's full ruling?
Your only other step would be a legal claim.

mr_b1ggz

Hi @pramsay13 and thanks for your quick response!

My mother is the only named person on the home insurance and is a joint home owner with me. We assumed that as long as one of the home owners had a policy it covered the house and people residing at the address (we're all related family).

The ombudsman's ruling was that we are not entitled to compensation as I am not named on the policy. My argument is that if the work needs to be re-done, I am going to have to pay (my mother is 70 and retired!) so why should I be out of pocket! They also advised for me to contact the insurer for reimbursement for extra travelling, phone calls etc etc which we have done, but they have ignored us and haven't even acknowledged us. This email went directly to the CEO's office as we started communication with them after not being able to contact our claims handler for weeks during the claim (which is now closed).

When you say legal claim, does this mean small claims court? I am guessing this is going to be a dead end as the insurer is huge! I'm just wondering if there is any point in appealing the ombudsman's ruling or if I should accept defeat. I just can't accept the way we were treated. My wife would call me at work in tears and say that the insurance company have threatened to not cover the claim, this happened at numerous times during the 10 months. Also the fact that they made us stay in the home after ripping up the floor for weeks and leaving us with hazardous materials with 4 children (the youngest who were 3 at the time) is also not sitting right with me. They only rehoused us after I asked them to give me a written document stating that we wouldn't suffer any ill affects short term or long term by staying at the property, by which the very next day they agreed to moving us.

Maybe the complaint to the ombudsman should have been from my mother!

Quentin

You can always appeal an ombudsman decision. All at no cost to you

However you personally cannot, as you had no contract with the insurers

The policy holder should be dealing with the FOS

If that fails your only option is legal action

That will involve costs which you will only get reimbursed if you win, so do get legal advice on this before starting