insurance claim, can i appeal decision, is it worth the claim

headsashed

I've recently had a leak in my property which has resulted in a ceiling coming down in one of my rooms and damage to the contents in the room. Ive been in touch with my insurance and after several weeks the assessor has said they will only pay £100 more than my excess, and in their opinion it isnt worth the claim, as will put up my premiums. I've had to pay for the roof to be repaired and will need the ceiling to be replastered, I suspect the carpet is beyond repair and several of the items in the room (clothing, books) will need throwing away. The room is frankly a mess and is taking some sorting and cleaning. 

I have a couple of questions

1. Is it possible to appeal the assessors opinion, its going to cost significantly more than they say to repair the damage, plus will have a loss of items within the room

2. As i have already told my insurance company of the claim, if i don't claim any money, will this count against me in future (I will not be using this insurance company again, as i have had a very poor standard of service, no returned calls, weeks waiting for any news, etc, so will need a new company when my policy is up for renewal).

3. This may be covered by question 2, but If i don't get any money from the company and pay for all the repairs myself will this count as a claim?

pramsay13

1. Yes, I had a loss assessor who was hopeless so I complained and eventually the insurance company recalled the claim and dealt with it themselves. It was for an escape of water and the loss adjustor wanted to put in a dehumidifier and then new lino at a cost of a few hundred. It eventually became a £7000 claim once the full extent was discovered.
2. Even if you don't claim it will need to be declared and will probably count against you although probably not as much as making a claim.
3. It doesn't count as a claim but often the question is have you suffered any losses even if you haven't made a claim or similar. 

Sandtree

1) Yes, its done in the format of a complaint

2) You have made a claim and are currently considering withdrawing it, most insurers ask about "claims and incidents" and so it makes little difference to an honest person but does mean a dishonest person can be caught out by "forgetting" to mention the incident as it'll be noted in a system as a withdrawn claim and so likely end up in CUE and other such shared databases

3) It'll be a withdrawn claim