insured driver of vehicle damaged garden wall. loss adjusters engaged by drivers insurance company

theoretica

Can't the wall be rebuilt using mainly the original bricks?

GDB2222

Whatdo said:

The wall in its entirety is 60 meters long (200ft). damaged section is approx 11mts, the owner is not expecting the whole wall to be replaced but from the area of damage to an opening a further 5mts to an opening. The extra 5mts the condition of the wall is delicate but it has been shifted by the impact and made worse. That is to say it is was not sprawled out lying in the pavement and road.

The question is achieving a best match to Victorian bricks as best as possible with those currently in production and available, and also achieving an aesthetic overall look. Not as regards a wall that has been hit many times. Should a householder build a wall to prevent a continued attack and damage from cars or have a wall that is so badly mismatched multiple times that a prospective purchaser is shied away from any future purchase.

I accept that this is a qualitative issue.....

Yikes I search for the pedant alert example in my posts............! help!

Cheers

I think that you are entitled to get a specialist firm of heritage builders to do the work, possibly using reclaimed materials, and certainly using lime mortar to match, etc.  There’s bound to be discussion about the extra 5m and whether the new wall is betterment.

GDB2222

You may need a surveyor to help you. It’s less easy for a loss adjuster to prevail against a professional.

lisyloo

Have you considered getting your insurance involved?
yes there are costs but perhaps not the same as employing your own professionals.

Section62

theoretica said:

Can't the wall be rebuilt using mainly the original bricks?

Yes, it would be normal to at least attempt to reuse the original bricks, supplemented by some reclaimed ones from a heritage supplier.  Differing sizes is often the biggest headache.

Whatdo

lisyloo said:

Have you considered getting your insurance involved?
yes there are costs but perhaps not the same as employing your own professionals.

This is an option... and would depend upon whether the insurance, and in particular motor insurance is limited liability. If the wall (or any other property) had been damaged by anything other that a motor car then the homeowner would have expected to have been made whole and not forced to be satisfied with an obvious repair. A vase with a chip automatically loses half its value even if it is repaired. The wall section cannot be repaired and made up as if the damage had not occurred.

Or if the wall was consistent in its age, patina and style, then repair would be impossible to execute without obvious restoration.

Therefore specifically the motor insurance can err on the side of a claim of mechanical failure (or a runaway cat) to absolve the driver of full responsibility, the driver CHOSE to drive the vehicle drunk/drugged we may not know and cannot say what was in his mind at the time if his intention was not to drive into a wall ( people jump in front of trains deliberately) he was reckless at the very very least to attempt operating the vehicle whilst intoxicated.

So then a possible option is to accept somehow the insurance offer but not in full and final settlement, await the outcome of the constabulary investigation and claim directly for the shortfall.

Thanks for all the help and replies

cheers

GDB2222

The motorist’s third party insurance won’t have any limit or excess. 

The motor insurance company is most unlikely to pay you, except in full and final settlement.  They indemnify their insured, so they can’t pay you but leave you free to pursue a claim against the motorist, as effectively it is a claim against the insurers.

Your own insurance may not cover garden walls, and in any case is likely  to be more limited than your claims against the motorist. However, your house insurance may provide legal cover. 

GDB2222

Could I suggest that you hire a surveyor straight away. It is very important that you make it clear to the loss adjuster that you are looking for a very, very expensive heritage repair to your wall. It’s best to have a surveyor on your side.

What you want is for the loss adjuster to report back to his instructing insurers that they should reserve say £25,000 for this claim. Then, if it gets settled for say £20,000, everybody is happy. On the other hand, if he initially reports back that they only need to reserve say £5000, you will have an uphill task to get them to pay out the say £20,000 that’s needed for the quality of repair that you want.

I had this problem with a major claim, when the LA drastically underestimated the claim initially, and he wasn’t at all easy to budge from what was obviously a ludicrous mistake.

FreeBear

Section62 said:

theoretica said:

Can't the wall be rebuilt using mainly the original bricks?

Yes, it would be normal to at least attempt to reuse the original bricks, supplemented by some reclaimed ones from a heritage supplier.  Differing sizes is often the biggest headache.

Cheap common brick from B&Q, 54-75p each (modern metric size). Hand made imperial soft red, £2.30. If you are lucky, some of the original bricks will clean up, and matching reclaims might be available...

Doing some repairs here that require the removal of ~20 facing bricks. Being in a lime mortar, most of them came out with minimal damage, but on cleaning up, they are falling to bits. Local reclaim yard is a bit of a crap shoot as to size, match, and availability. Fortunately, managed to find a local supplier that has stocks of a matching imperial size.

TELLIT01

Whatdo said:

The wall in its entirety is 60 meters long (200ft). damaged section is approx 11mts, the owner is not expecting the whole wall to be replaced but from the area of damage to an opening a further 5mts to an opening. The extra 5mts the condition of the wall is delicate but it has been shifted by the impact and made worse. That is to say it is was not sprawled out lying in the pavement and road.

I interpret that as saying that the 5m section of wall was already weak.  No insurer will pay to put the claimant in a better position than they were before the impact.  If the owner wants that section repaired they will at minimum have to pay toward the cost.