Complaints and FOS

natg92

I’m need of advice and assistance with an issue I’ve had with my home insurance complaint. 

On 31 January 2022 I submitted a claim against my policy in regards to my bathroom where water ingress from the shower had leaked for a period of time expanding to my walls causing rotten plaster board and rotten flooring. This leak also had diverted down to my hallway ceiling where there was damage. 

A surveyor from insurance visited my home on 9th February took ceiling samples away for asbestos testing. No one contacted me until I chased and complained to my Insurance company on 23 February that finally contacted me to say that the sample was positive for asbestos. 

Moving forward to the month of March and emails back and fourth a visit from the contractors to my property on 4th March for revaluation which they subsequently accepted the claim. However, no one contacted me for several weeks until I complained to my insurance handler works finally started 12th May which included removing my ceiling and 13th May work on the bathroom.  That was a total of 106 days from the start of the claim. The delay was unreasonable and there was no good basis for such.

I first filed my complaint with the Financial Ombudsman on April 8th 2022 following the disaster handling of my bathroom repairs with both the insurance and Contractors. I privately paid £388 for the shower panels as these were outside the scope of works. I also paid the £100 excess

After the scope of works were completed I was just simply left to reflect on the disaster of working full time trying to study for my job as a nurse practitioner. 

Following my logged in complaint with Financial Ombudsman the last correspondence I had with them was 29th of June 2022. In their email I was advised that they would be in touch with me. No one ever did. The insurance offered me £500 compensation which was declared their final offer as of their letter 11 July. I felt that I had no choice and without any expertise and guidance I regrettably accepted it thinking that will be the end of a horrible, stressful experience. However Monday 29 august morning at 730 whilst waking up at home I observe that I have black mould and damp in my hallway ceiling. A ceiling which is new. Following inspection behind the bath panel I see that I again have an escape of water.  Escape of water in a refurbished bathroom. 

Following another visit from the contractors  to my property on 1 September 2022 from have been informed the panels are to come off be replaced the ceiling wall to be assessed and painted 

Ive subsequently been left standing on my own two feet inexperienced to deal with this situation as a first time home buyer as well dealing with a home insurance claim. My confidence in the financial ombudsman, the insurance company and contractors are at an all time low. 

So my question here is where do I stand? I’m now likely back at square one with a laughable £500 compensation . What are my rights?

dunstonh

My confidence in the financial ombudsman, the insurance company and contractors are at an all time low.

The FOS are generally slow.  You would expect ot be talking in months and years in many cases.

So my question here is where do I stand? I’m now likely back at square one with a laughable £500 compensation . What are my rights?

£500 is not bad for the inconvenience.    Your rights are that you would expect it to be completed satisfactorily.

Annemos

Hello natg92. 

I have just had something similar to you on a Subsidence claim. My original building works went very badly wrong and I submitted a complaint about that to the Claim Handlers. (Severe damage caused by their Contractors to my building.)

A year later they sent out a new company to come and correct the work, but I had noticed that the new builder was coming out right on the 6 months deadline to go to the Ombudsman. 

Thank Heaven I did not trust the 2nd builder to do it right and I did submit an Ombudsman's Complaint in June 2021 just before the second repairs started. And I said I would update them what the outcome was. 

I then provided an update when that second set of work had gone wrong and I said I was getting another professional opinion. 

So I then started to receive correspondence from the person assigned to my case in October 2021. 

(I think they are even busier now with lots of Travel complaints, for example.) 


My advice to you would be.... not to be perplexed that you seem to be waiting a while for the FOS. Once they started addressing my case, I found the service was excellent. Then: 

1) Send the FOS an update on your complaint, saying that the original repairs have now failed and what is now happening. (I am not sure, but that might also help keeping it visible for them.)

complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk     (Also give them the FOS complaint number.)

I think you need to do that alert to them, in case you are not happy after your second repairs are done.

If that happens with the second repairs, you might find the Claims Handlers and Contractors will insist the work is fine, but you might not think it is. Then you might need to get your own professional opinion for your side. (The FOS does not typically just take a homeowner's opinion. They would need to see your own professional evidence.) 

In that case I think you would also need to open up a brand new complaint. Because it sounds as if your first Complaint was about the time it all took. But now you would be complaining about the actual quality of all the works. (On the second complaint, I believe you can say if there is already a prior complaint that has been submitted.)

ADDED: see DullGreyGuy comment later about waiting the required time, before you could go to the FOS about the actual works.)

2) I also confirm what dunstonh is saying. The FOS is not a punitive body. My claim was extended from 2 years to 4 years and there was all the building damage, too. So I received the payments for the damage to be finally put right and the Engineer fees. 

But re the compensation: in then end I have received 400 and then 300 pounds. (400 for the original bodged repair-inconvenience and then a further 300 for the extended time delay when it went wrong the second time. I was also led to believe that in my case, the compensation would only have been higher if there was a family involved with lack of use of bathroom and/or kitchen.) 


I hope this helps you a bit hearing about a live case. 

Good luck with it all. I do hope your repairs go well. 


PS An extra word of encouragement. The FOS ruled I could have my own skilled local builder out to do the third set of Building Work. He was so careful and so skilled and just did such a marvellous job, I shall be eternally grateful to him. So hang on in there! 

DullGreyGuy

You can only log a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman after the Final Response from your insurance company or 8 weeks have passed since the complaint was formally registered (whichever is sooner). 

You state you logged your complaint in April but only got a final response from your insurers in July. Hopefully the complaint was already after 8 weeks of complaining to your insurers else you may end up with a reasonable wait to be told you haven't followed process.

Last time I spoke to the FOS they were saying its about 9 months for the Investigator's decisions but it does depend on how quickly your insurers respond. Either you or your insurers have the right to reject the Investigator's decision at which point it joins the queue for an ombudsman which can be another 6 months or so. If matters are more complex or parties particularly slow in responding then things can be stretched out... my penultimate complaint to the ombudsman went over 2 years but the most recent was about 11 months.

Annemos

Am I right in thinking, DGG, that if the first complaint is considered process-time- barred, that would only apply to the issue raised in that complaint. 

So if poster had only complained in the first complaint about the long time taken, then that would be the only issue that is barred from FOS review? 

Poster could still later submit a second FOS Complaint about any overall quality issues? ... but as you say, would need to first make sure he/she either waits for a Final Response from the Insurers about the actual works.... or after eight weeks if they do not respond adequately about them. 

And just to add..... I always put "Formal Complaint" at the top when I complained formally, to make it clear I was now expecting the 8 week process to be followed. 

Another thing I found out is that the FOS can then only review on that Complaint, what happened up to the date of the Insurer's Final Response Letter. 

(Unless the Insurance Company gives permission for something after that date to also be taken into consideration.)

DullGreyGuy

There is no such thing as an informal complaint, the FOS use the FCA definition, but there is a judgement call on if something meets the definition from the FCA or if someone is just moaning... the FCA changed the definition sometime ago to weed out all those that are just moaning. It now has to have a "they have suffered (or may suffer): financial loss; material distress; or. material inconvenience"

Inevitably the issue is you may think waiting in for a day for a loss adjustor to visit who's a no show is a material inconvenience whereas the call centre agent you are talking to thinks its below the threshold and so doesn't log it as a complaint. Certainly clearly stating its a complaint helps, the formal isnt strictly necessary (though no harm either).