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Ongoing insurance claim - loss adjuster issues

michellecovell
Posts: 17 Forumite

I made a post a couple of months ago on the insurance claim we had to make due to a car crashing into the side of the house and causing damage to the walls and kitchen.
It has taken a few months but we are starting to get closer to getting all the works completed. There have been a few issues that we have had with the Loss adjuster (also, specifically their 'in-house' surveyor who has also been appointed as the project manager).
There has been some structural damage to the walls, which the surveyor has been out to see and has approved the re-build of the damaged walls but only at ground floor level.
The top half of the property is rendered and there are a few running cracks that disappear up into the render. On one particular side, the render had completely blown with a huge crack running up the the 2nd floor window (directly above) and the surface colour coat has come off in places around the same area.
We raised this as a concern on the basis that there may be further structural defects behind the render. The Loss adjuster's surveyor passed this off as minor and recommended a repair to the render but no further investigation was deemed necessary.
It took us a few months of arguing and pressing and finally threatening the insurance company / Loss adjuster with getting a specific defects survey being done independently. They finally relented and got their builders to take off the render around the affected area. Lo and behold, there is huge cracking in the brickwork behind that will now also need to be repaired.
I am concerned about the original lack of concern around this and if we hadn't have had our wits about us and pushed, this would have been missed.
I feel that the loss adjustment firm are accountable here but I am not sure where we stand on this. This seems like negligence to me and potentially needs to be raised as a complaint. With whom? the Insurance company as the ultimate owner of the claim or directly with the Loss adjustment firm?
Do we also raise this as a concern with the relevant association that the surveyor is a member of - like RICS?
It has taken a few months but we are starting to get closer to getting all the works completed. There have been a few issues that we have had with the Loss adjuster (also, specifically their 'in-house' surveyor who has also been appointed as the project manager).
There has been some structural damage to the walls, which the surveyor has been out to see and has approved the re-build of the damaged walls but only at ground floor level.
The top half of the property is rendered and there are a few running cracks that disappear up into the render. On one particular side, the render had completely blown with a huge crack running up the the 2nd floor window (directly above) and the surface colour coat has come off in places around the same area.
We raised this as a concern on the basis that there may be further structural defects behind the render. The Loss adjuster's surveyor passed this off as minor and recommended a repair to the render but no further investigation was deemed necessary.
It took us a few months of arguing and pressing and finally threatening the insurance company / Loss adjuster with getting a specific defects survey being done independently. They finally relented and got their builders to take off the render around the affected area. Lo and behold, there is huge cracking in the brickwork behind that will now also need to be repaired.
I am concerned about the original lack of concern around this and if we hadn't have had our wits about us and pushed, this would have been missed.
I feel that the loss adjustment firm are accountable here but I am not sure where we stand on this. This seems like negligence to me and potentially needs to be raised as a complaint. With whom? the Insurance company as the ultimate owner of the claim or directly with the Loss adjustment firm?
Do we also raise this as a concern with the relevant association that the surveyor is a member of - like RICS?
0
Comments
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Are you claiming from your home insurance or from the third party's motor insurance?
For all intents and purpose there is no formal complaints if you are claiming from their insurance... clearly you can express your concerns but they could choose to ignore you and there is no escalation route. If its your own insurer then were they to do the same you could escalate the matter to the Financial Ombudsman.0 -
The Loss adjustment firm is appointed by our Insurer, who I assume will be dealing with the 3rd pty motor insurance to claim back on the costs incurred.
I take it, our first port of call is to raise this with the Loss adjustment firm and then the Insurer if we get no joy
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You can jump straight to the insurer... they are who you have a contract with and it was their choice to appoint an agent to work for them0
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