Home Insurance Subsidence Claim Never Ending

Biggie

Hi All

i'm in desperate need of some advice now.  Please see below details of my subsidence claim : 

Subsidence Claim - Logged in Aug 2018
Subsidence Mitigation Resolved - 20th April 2021 After TPO removal Tree was finally felled. Insurance company also confirmed they could move to resolution phase as ground was considered settled. 
Schedule of Work Compilation Started - 01-Sep-2021 - After several visits calls, escalation this is still ongoing

 Catalogue of issues
 Long delays between visits
 High turn over of staff at loss adjusters
 Basic administration errors.
 Escalation of costs to a different team within the insurance company this caused many weeks delay. 
 Lack of ownership from both loss adjusters and insurance company
 Lack of communication or waiting weeks before things progress or even be able to call to a claim handler
 Several complaints made over the years they just apologise and write me a cheque
 No single point of contact for the over all claim 
 


The Schedule of works seems to be the biggest failure after 18 month I now have revision 3 which still has items missing even though they had been agreed by a surveyor from the insurance company who now appears to have left the firm. The loss adjuster tells  told me there will now be even longer delays to get the schedule amended again. I don't trust the loss adjuster to do any of the repairs so prefer to have a cash settlement and assign my own contractors(s). 

Questions

• How can I get things moving ? financial ombudsman process seems long and lots of administration even though I have a detailed log.
• Is it worth getting my own loss adjuster ? any recommendations ? can I end up heavily out of pocket by employing my own ?
• Cash Settlement : They haven't agreed any cash payout but I have seen some of the figures in the draft schedule. I'm generally happy with the figures where works are being done by specialist external contractors i.e Patio works. But the cash figures for the "insurance  allocated contractor" is horrendously low to the point it appears to only cover materials.  I would not accept these as cash settlement they are not even close to market value. 
  
• Can I argue the low "insurance  allocated contractor" quotes by obtaining my own quotes ? and also on the basis they don't appear to be remediating the property within a timely manner ?. 
• I notice the prices in the schedule exclude VAT. I have read insurance companies don't pay VAT when cash is settled. Is this true ?

Any advice on how I can move forward ?, I feel like the insurance company is holding me ransom by not agreeing a reasonable cash amount and not repairing my property in a timely fashion. 

DullGreyGuy

1) There is little to do other than register a complaint... the ombudsman is really focused on making up for the past than driving things forward

2) They will obviously say they will normally increase your payout by more than they cost but not promise that... its possible to lose financially but some like just handing over the stress to someone else even if it financially costs them

3) You can always submit your own contractor estimates. However read your policy book on the basis of settlement, these days its normally going to be based on their own suppliers if they can provide an appropriate solution

4) Insurers wont pay VAT up front on a cash settlement normally, if you subsequently submit invoices for the same work which shows VAT being paid then the insurer will reimburse it.

Annemos

Re DGG

1) Yes, I agree. It is the Formal Complaint which you submit to the Insurance Company (see process in the policy documents) which can tend to get things moving, in my experience.

(There is a 6-month deadline from their Final Response....  and they will have seen that you might go to the Ombudsman if they have not satisfied you within that period.) 

3) I also agree with this point. Policies can say that you will never get paid more than what it would have cost their own contractors.

If deciding to use their contractors and they make a mess of it, or it is inadequate, then the Insurance company has to put it right.

If you use your own, you are responsible for any contractor failings. 

4) The VAT was paid on any bills they had to cover for me, after I submitted the invoices. (There were no cash settlements involved in my case.)