Saga Home Emergency Insurance and the Highway Patrol Man

indebt80

I have Saga Contents Insurance (Ageas) and I also purchased Saga Home Emergency Insurance which I did not realise at the time was with Aviva.  My buildings insurance is also with Ageas but directly purchased with them.   On a Sunday in March I discovered my toilet was leaking slightly and I also discovered later I had a blockage.   As it was a Sunday I thought I would use the home emergency insurance. 

They informed me they would send a drains specialist out.  Lanes for Drains.  Lanes for Drains phoned and said they did not come out to private houses I needed a plumber.  I phoned the insurance and they said they would send a plumber out.  I was given a time of midnight but no one came and I phoned back and was told that was an error.  The plumber would arrive on the Monday the next morning.  The plumber arrived but did not unblock toilets so quickly left.  I phoned the insurance office again.

Lanes for Drains were booked again.  Later a highway patrol van parked across my drive.  It said highway patrol with a small Lanes for Drains sign below it.  The highway patrol man said he didn't know anything about toilets but was willing to give it a go.  I stupidly let him into my bathroom.  He put a 4ft high plunger down my toilet which flooded my bathroom and sent water dripping through my kitchen ceiling.  It stopped, thankfully just before my ceiling light.  

I was distraught and asked him to inspect the drain.  He said it was blocked so cleared it with his massive plunger and my plastic watering can.  He then informed me the toilet was still blocked and so needed a plumber.  I phoned the insurance office again and they sent Metrorod who cleared the blockage via the drain.

The next day I had to pay a plumber to fix the leak which had got worse since the plunger episode.  This was £200.  I am waiting to have my kitchen ceiling repainted and for the vinyl in the bathroom to dry out to see what damage has been caused underneath.  I am very much out of pocket. I contacted Saga who informed me that they are only a broker and not responsible for the home emergency insurance.  Could someone please inform me if that is true?  Aviva originally offered me compensation of £75 for bad service.  Which I refused.

At the moment my "complaint" is still being investigated.  They have informed me the usual, that after eight weeks I can go to the Ombudsman if I am not happy with their final response.  This I will do so.  But at the moment I also have a claim on my Ageas Buildings insurance which I don't intend to take further, as none of this was my fault - well apart from phoning Saga Home Emergency Insurance.  Has anyone else had a similar problem which might help me with my compensation claim?

eddddy

indebt80 said:

Saga Home Emergency Insurance and the Highway Patrol Man
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Later a highway patrol van parked across my drive.  It said highway patrol with a small Lanes for Drains sign below it.  The highway patrol man said he didn't know anything about toilets but was willing to give it a go.  

Do you mean "Highway Maintenance" rather than "Highway Patrol", like this?




If so, those van markings are just to allow them to stop their vans on main roads, if they need to. It's not really relevant to your claim - so I wouldn't confuse things by mentioning the van markings (or refer to the person as a "Highway Patrol Man".)

Also, that company claim to deal with domestic premises, so it's strange that they told you they didn't. Was there confusion when you called about a blocked drain vs a blocked toilet?  Maybe they only deal with drains and not toilets.

What did their person do that actually caused a flood in your bathroom?

user1977

Maybe these guys have diversified:

indebt80

No it was a white van with highway patrol in very large letters and in a tiny wording Lanes and Drains underneath. With yellow and orange stripes.  The "highway patrol man" pushed a huge plunger with a four foot high handle into my toilet.  He kept doing it and flushing! and all the water cascade into my bathroom and then to the kitchen ceiling below.  I then sent him to check the drain which was blocked.  He cleaned the drain with his plunger and my small plastic watering can but the toilet was still blocked.  Hence Metrorod were called and did the job efficiently.  But I am left with having to pay out to repair damage which I didn't cause.  I know it sounds like a comedy sketch but that is what happened.  I think the CHIPS guys would have done a better job.

indebt80

okay I won't call  him the highway patrol man.  I will call him the "drains specialist" who came out to unblock my toilet which is what the home emergency insurance refer to him as.