Damp damaged floor - claim?

ambrose90

I have hired a company to completely refurbish my kitchen. Due to this they had to move all the water pipes. One Saturday morning, day after they replaced mains water supply to the house I wake up, still in bed and shortly after opening my eyes hear a loud slushing noise. I think it's our new boiler switching on but I go check anyway as it is a bit unusual. I'm welcomed by water flooding our kitchen and entrance hall. I've shut it with the valve located outside, wake the wife up and begin clearing out.

Our living room has a wooden floor, initially we thought not much damage happened and maybe a few planks would need to be replaced as they have warped. The contractors were first very apologetic in sound, but never really said "sorry", and only reluctantly said yes to me mentioning that those planks will need replacing.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, the whole renovation has been dragging due to delay in our kitchen units delivery, now they finally been installed so I emptied the living room, which we used as storage. Lo and behold the entire wall connecting with the kitchen has rows of badly warped wooden planks.

Now, I am afraid they will not take responsibility, the longer they worked for us they more cowboy they look with their approach, so I would not be surprised if they don't have an insurance to cover for damage they cause. Obviously I will have some tough talk with them about that when I get a chance but I am preparing for the worst.
I have a Buildings cover with Churchill including Accidental Damage - paragraphs applicable A, B, C, D and E - pages 8 through 12 from their booklet https://www.churchill.com/assets/pdf/ch-home-insurance-policy-document.pdf
Can anyone tell me am I covered?

Some other facts:

• it has been a couple of weeks since incident and pipe problem has since been rectified, kitchen floor then was simply concrete, it now has been covered with tiles
• living room floor is warped, I don't have enough spare material to replace it, the supplier doesn't sell this range anymore, but I'm yet to contact them and ask
• I will also ask the supplier if they can quote me cost of the repair
• on the renewal schedule I have Buildings cover paragraphs A through E have excess of £100, but another section below states:
  "Claims for damage caused by escape of water are subject to a compulsory excess of £450"
• the floor has been installed using glue as that's what the manufacturer recommended for our living room concrete floor

ambrose90

Is it permissible to bump your own threads? Also, please let me know if this thread should perhaps be in a different sub-forum

Smithcom

ambrose90 said:

I have hired a company to completely refurbish my kitchen. Due to this they had to move all the water pipes. One Saturday morning, day after they replaced mains water supply to the house I wake up, still in bed and shortly after opening my eyes hear a loud slushing noise. I think it's our new boiler switching on but I go check anyway as it is a bit unusual. I'm welcomed by water flooding our kitchen and entrance hall. I've shut it with the valve located outside, wake the wife up and begin clearing out.

Our living room has a wooden floor, initially we thought not much damage happened and maybe a few planks would need to be replaced as they have warped. The contractors were first very apologetic in sound, but never really said "sorry", and only reluctantly said yes to me mentioning that those planks will need replacing.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, the whole renovation has been dragging due to delay in our kitchen units delivery, now they finally been installed so I emptied the living room, which we used as storage. Lo and behold the entire wall connecting with the kitchen has rows of badly warped wooden planks.

Now, I am afraid they will not take responsibility, the longer they worked for us they more cowboy they look with their approach, so I would not be surprised if they don't have an insurance to cover for damage they cause. Obviously I will have some tough talk with them about that when I get a chance but I am preparing for the worst.
I have a Buildings cover with Churchill including Accidental Damage - paragraphs applicable A, B, C, D and E - pages 8 through 12 from their booklet https://www.churchill.com/assets/pdf/ch-home-insurance-policy-document.pdf
Can anyone tell me am I covered?

Some other facts:

• it has been a couple of weeks since incident and pipe problem has since been rectified, kitchen floor then was simply concrete, it now has been covered with tiles
• living room floor is warped, I don't have enough spare material to replace it, the supplier doesn't sell this range anymore, but I'm yet to contact them and ask
• I will also ask the supplier if they can quote me cost of the repair
• on the renewal schedule I have Buildings cover paragraphs A through E have excess of £100, but another section below states:
  "Claims for damage caused by escape of water are subject to a compulsory excess of £450"
• the floor has been installed using glue as that's what the manufacturer recommended for our living room concrete floor

There's no (obvious) reason why your home insurance will not provide cover for the damage, unless the project was so big that they needed to be notified that the work was going on.

It's common for 'escape of water' claims to be subject to a higher excess

If the damage is only a couple of hundred pounds, possibly no point in claiming.  

Your insurers should pay your claim, and will look to subrogate (recover) costs from the contractor, if that is possible.  

Often, the contractor's liability insurers will not become involved until the threat of litigation arises.

Hope that helps

SC

[Deleted User]

delete 123

ambrose90

[DELETED USER] said:

You should start by telling the builders that you will get a quote to put everything right and send them the bill. See what their reaction is.

I've called a local hardwood installer (closest/best rated found on some trade search engine) to come around and give me a quote, he should visit tomorrow. The supplier doesn't install them and they also don't sell this line of products anymore, so that won't be as easy as replacing part of the floor...

Annemos

I have at the back of my mind that Home insurance may not cover negligent work. 

I did a quick search and found what AA says, for example..

https://www.theaa.com/home-insurance/advice/damage-caused-by-builders-and-workmen

Annemos

I am not an expert at all..... but please see page 7 of the Churchill booklet on faulty workmanship? 

ambrose90

Annemos said:

I am not an expert at all..... but please see page 7 of the Churchill booklet on faulty workmanship? 

So it covers me for escape of water, just not when it happens when anyone worked anywhere near the source of it. How convenient for them. Doesn't it mean you'd be covered only in case of a bad luck / chance? 

Annemos

I was told as an example.......if you knock a nail through the pipe, accidentally! 

Annemos

The other favourite on that page 7 is the "gradual damage" exclusion. 

I think what that means is..... when they come out and assess the damage, if the water stain looks old, for example, then the claim can be denied. So one should report that type of damage quickly.


Something else that often applies, I believe........

If you have Trace and Access, it will often cover finding the area of the pipe that is leaking, but it will not cover the actual repair of the said pipe. (And it may also cover damage done to get to the pipe.)


And the wording in all the policies can be slightly different. And sometimes ambiguous. 

As a regular homeowner, I only found out about these things after a big claim. 

I think we should all be trained on this at school???