Ongoing battle with loss adjusters over subsidence claim

Bluntington88

You’re right about the complexity of explaining the details of a long battle. Anyone  who hasn’t suffered the exhausting experience of dealing with an Insurance Company determined to escape responsibility for full and proper restitution of a property is unlikely to understand the delaying avoidance they apply to a Claim. 
I do hope you arrive at solution that gives some recognition of the issues you have battled with for so long 

Marley16

Bluntington88:  So sorry not to have go back in touch when you needed help.  I don't find MSE website easy to navigate.    I just hope you have more luck than I did with FOS; I found them unprofessional and from an office in say London, they cannot possible make a genuine decision based on paperwork alone without face-to-face meetings of explanation and questioning to get to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!  My claim has always been paid by Insurer via Loss Adjusters.  It wasn't a "settlement-case".  Is now into Phase 6 and I've been going through the 6th round of investigations and believe they are trying to wriggle out of underpinning the left and rear part of house - only short stretch of underpinning done to rear right [despite recommendation not to underpin just one part as that then causes more issues!].  Its now 24 yours since I registered my concerns in spring of 2001 with NUD/AVIVA and yet their website says to the question how long do subsidence claims take to resolve:  Can take from 9 months to 2 years except if complex!  Mine was never complex, they just played a game and it became complex due to their own making.   Sorry to be so negative; this has ruined my life and my health.

Annemos:  Thanks for your understanding.  But really this is a huge topic and so I wish Martin Lewis would take it on for us as it's "almost" another "Sub-postmaster Scandal" waiting to become a documentary by ITV.  Important Note:  I said "almost", because nothing can be so ghastly as what those poor sub-postmasters have been through]

Marley16

I wish we could form a "SUBSIDENCE BATTLE GROUP".  Is there anyone out there who can become our "Mr Bates" please?  

We need help desperately and I am sure there are hundreds/thousands who have been or are being poorly treated and affected by what I can only described as collaboration between Insurers and their chosen Loss Adjusters; paid by Insurer to fend off as many claims as possible.  I was once told they hope we will give up, move house or pop-off!

Bluntington88

It is certainly the case that big business almost always seem to triumph despite so-called routes for consumers to register complaints and get resolution. The biggest help I had was from a civil engineer’s report done twice over 5 years which should have been persuasive. Unfortunately, marital proceedings up-ended my attempt to get a proper job done. 
It is draining and disillusioning process dealing with Insurers and I have full sympathy with your insurance tribulations. 

Nigel_Molesworth

Hello Bluntingdon - what is the current position regarding your claim/saga? I am nearly eleven years into my battle with AXA/Crawfords.

Bluntington88

Unfortunately my battle with AXA was over-ruled by a Family Court judge who decided that the house had to be treated with RBT not underlining that I  been fighting for. The house has now been treated with quick fix RBT and I am now 4 months waiting the them to finalise a list of internal repairs. I do think I had  built a strong case for underpinning  with the help of tree surgeon reports, valuations from Estate agents and 2 structural engineers reports. The Ombudsman application was also convincing but blocked because my other half wouldn’t sign permission for it to proceed. Regardless, my conclusion is get expert reports and use the Ombudsman. My very best wishes for your success 

Bluntington88

underpinning (not underlining!) 

Annemos

Bluntington88 said:

Unfortunately my battle with AXA was over-ruled by a Family Court judge who decided that the house had to be treated with RBT not underlining that I  been fighting for. 

Just to also add..... RBT is, I think, Root Barrier Treatment.  


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Nigel_Molesworth said:

Hello Bluntingdon - what is the current position regarding your claim/saga? I am nearly eleven years into my battle with AXA/Crawfords.

I also wish for you that your own situation will finally be resolved. 


There have been quite a few Subsidence claims recently, so I am going to provide this below for you, in case you need it and also for others who might read this Post.  


To hopefully get you started:    The Financial Ombudsman Service:  

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decisions-case-studies/ombudsman-decisions

This is a lot of work, but you can do searches on cases for ones like your own situation. It is totally invaluable. 

You can search using words like:   Subsidence Tree Damage.   Subsidence Drains etc. 

Here is a list of cases to get you started so you can see how the Ombudsman works and how they consider cases. (I believe these are ones I originally saved, when I searched on Subsidence Claims that had been going on for a long time. Mine was Tree Roots.)  
 
DRN-4698162
DRN-6171707 
DRN-4242030
DRN-4404008
DRN-4984440
DRN-5038683
DRN-5180076

You can do more searches on your own words to find more cases. I found that being able to use the correct terminology was invaluable, when making my own case. 

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Please note that any Complaint you send to the Ombudsman will concern your actual Insurer/Underwriter at the top of the chain.  This is because the Loss adjusters act under delegated authority from the Underwriter.   But the Underwriter itself is deemed by the FOS to be the one with ultimate responsibility and to whom any Complaint is directed for FOS purposes. 

Also note that when you complain you have to follow the procedures in your Policy booklet when you made the claim. That tells you where to send complaints. They then have 8 weeks to reply to you. And only after you have had their Final Response, or if they have not replied within 8 weeks, then you can approach the Ombudsman Service.   Also, if they have sent you a Final response, then you must go the FOS within 6 months of that Final Response. 

3    The FOS does NOT have any technical experts. So, if you have not provided one yourself (Tree Inspection/Drainage Reports     and/ or Structural Engineer Report), then the FOS is only likely to go with what the Insurance Company has provided via their Loss Adjuster, as that would be all the FOS has to review. 

So really you have to get your own Expert Reports from a Tree Inspector or Drainage Company (also re Water Mains) and also a Structural Engineer. I found my experts by first of all hearing about the best Tree Inspector in our local area!   He then also told me about a Structural Engineering firm he had worked with on a Tree Root Case. 

With your own reports, you can go to the FOS with their evidence, AND if that evidence conflicts with that of the Loss Adjuster and seems to carry more weight and reasoning, then the FOS will say that your costs should be reimbursed by the Insurance Company if yours is the one that is accepted. 

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Once a property has been monitored after a remedy, then if the property is found not to be moving, then the repairs can start. BUT THE REPAIRS MUST BE EFFECTIVE AND LASTING.  That is such a CRUCIAL concept from the FOS which you will see referred to in their cases. 

If they are NOT, then another solution must be found. 

If the damage has come back in the same place and due to the same cause, then from what I have seen, if that is within about 5 years of repairs, then the Claim must be re-opened and a new solution found.  


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I am also going to attach here for anyone else that reads this Post:   

CONTINUATION OF COVER (This is the expression the FOS and Insurance Industry use.)

This is another CRUCIAL concept. After a Subsidence Claim, the Insurance Company should provide you with ongoing Subsidence Insurance both DURING the actual claim and AFTER the claim is finished. (A Policy that includes Subsidence Cover). 

Recent cases state, that even if an Insurance Company has stopped offering your original Policy (exited that particular offering), if they are still insuring any homes at all then they should be continuing to insure your home. Or they should have put other arrangements in place for you. 

If they have stopped providing you with Home Insurance which also MUST INCLUDE Subsidence Cover, then you must complain to the Underwriter and then to the FOS if necessary. 

To get you started, here are some cases again.....   all DRN-

3920320
5302185
5315100
5501833
3300987
3327677
4190935
4123124
3897491

I hope the above might help someone with a Subsidence Claim.