Contents insurance claim

Susan1942

I live in a leasehold apartment where the buildings insurance is in a policy held by the Freeholder and I pay this as part of the maintainence contract.
I am looking for advice regarding a claim I have made for accidental damage to a hall and lounge carpet.  The damaged carpet was Ryalux but they went out of business around 3 years ago. The last price for the King's Twist quality just before this was £51.99 per square meter. 
The inspection of the carpet was carried out by Renew who were appointed by the insurance company.  I had the receipts for my carpet to confirm the quality etc Renew advised me that Cavalier Carpets is of the same quality.  The cost of this carpet is £26 50. per Sm

I am unhappy about this as I don't accept this and it  is not borne out by two quotes I obtained on a replacement carpet.  One is advising that Westex Carpets at £49.50 is comparable in quality

The second quote was for Brontë carpet which is more expensive at around £59 per am 
This claim has been ongoing since December of 2019.
The insurance company have been particularly difficult due to the wording of the policy as it does not exclude matching items.  
The matter is now with the Ombudsman who have advised Admiral that I am covered for the replacement of carpets in both rooms.

The quality of the carpet is the stumbling.block and the initial response from the investigator at the Ombudsman has said that having looked online there are comparable carpets costing less

How someone can say that looking online you can determine the quality of a carpet.  Quality is based on much more 
Wool and it's providence weight density Etc. 
My daughter who works in insurance and has got a law degree has asked for this to be sent to the Ombudsman for a decision. 
I would appreciate advice and views on this. Sue 

Sandtree

This is why claims for TVs etc are always much easier to argue because you can point to a spec sheet and show that one is HD and the other is 4K/UHD etc.

Carpets in particular are sold on the scantest of details and so its possible to get a 100% wool carpet that is quarter the price of the next one, most will know they arent the same quality but carpets don't publish things like GSM, fiber length or thickness as they do with say suiting fabric. Even if you were able to get those kinds of details for the suggested replacements you're almost certainly not going to get them for the existing carpet which is the key.

Probably the most sensible thing is to escalate it to the ombudsman, after all you have a low risk of them overturning the gains you've made and just try to construct as best an argument as you can that will probably mainly come down to the fact yours were a higher tier brand and that is a sufficient proxy for quality. At the more extreme end you could order free samples of your suggested replacement and that of the insurers and see if you can commission an independent expert to compare both to a sample of your original carpet.

Susan1942

Thank you so.much for your advice and suggestions.  As you say it is very difficult to prove quality etc. Were Ryalux still.in business there would not be a problem.  
The insurance company were determined they were not going to budge on the matching items clause even though he had failed to.exclude carpets and floor coverings in the policy.
The Ombudsman however have found in my favour but the quality remains an issue 
Thanks again 
Sue 

Susan1942

I have spoken to an independent carpet consultant who has asked me to email the specifications of the carpet the insurance company are proposing and the specifications of the existing. Cost £95.
He will write the report once he has been paid.
I was interesting to learn that Renew who.did the inspection following the accident are actually owned by Chavalier
I spoken to a second consultant who wanted a sample of carpet to test.  Cost around £200 
We only have to the 22nd February to submit the report..
Would value your opinion 
Sue