Tradesman caused damage - insurance issue

DullGreyGuy

btcp said:

Tradesman insurance appointed company called Crawford to deal with it. I believe they are loss adjusters. 

For me to appoint a loss assessor will be additional cost I suppose? I could just get the quotes for repair myself, why wouldn’t I? 

Also, is that possible to add any compensation for the inconvenience here? Time I spent on looking for builders, getting quotes, sourcing materials for repair, etc?

Yes, if you appoint a loss assessor you would need to pay them. Like all things pricing methodology can vary notably and it should be a balance of cost and how well you get on with the person. With some they have their own network of repairers etc and if you agree to use them the charge the assessor gives to you may be less. 

Assessors are qualified insurance professionals so they typically are more successful at arguing with insurers than a normal policyholder is but inevitably it is variable. 


No, inconvenience isn't a valid head of claim; the courts accept life is just not great at times. If there is mishandling by the insurer/their agents such that it's much worse than it needs to be then maybe. Sometimes insurers will pay out "go away money", ie a token sum to just shut someone up rather than actually something they are entitled to. In my day we could payout £20 in "miscellaneous expenses" without evidence... anything more had to be logged as Goodwill which has further downstream implications for the insurer that aren't worth getting into here.

btcp

I suppose involving a loss assessor makes more sense in a large damage. I am hoping that mine is relatively straightforward, the minimum is drying and repairing the walls and the maximum will include replacing  some cabinets and stone worktop…