Insurance claim against a building developer.

factfinding8888

Last question - What if I take the developer to court for nuisance and trespass? Will this affect their ability to sell the property? 

Thanks in advance! 

MattMattMattUK

factfinding8888 said:

Last question - What if I take the developer to court for nuisance and trespass? Will this affect their ability to sell the property? 

Thanks in advance! 

No.

Why are you so desperate to block the sale?

DullGreyGuy

factfinding8888 said:

Last question - What if I take the developer to court for nuisance and trespass? Will this affect their ability to sell the property? 

Thanks in advance! 

No, if you got a court order, they failed to pay it, then you took further enforcement action it may result in a temporary pause if the order was attached to the property but ultimately the property is going be sold before you can do all that. 

MattMattMattUK said:

factfinding8888 said:

Last question - What if I take the developer to court for nuisance and trespass? Will this affect their ability to sell the property? 

Thanks in advance! 

No.

Why are you so desperate to block the sale?

Presumably they are trying to create motivation for the developer to settle their claim against them by restricting their ability to liquidate their investment but sounds like its the insurer dealing with the claim and so not in the developers control anyway.

factfinding8888

Because I can't sell my property due to the damage they've caused so I don't see why they should be able to sell theirs.

MattMattMattUK

factfinding8888 said:

Because I can't sell my property due to the damage they've caused so I don't see why they should be able to sell theirs.

That is not rational.

Think if it this way, the developer cannot speed up their insurer, but if you annoy them they can slow them down by delaying their responses when asked questions by the insurer. You cannot do anything to block the sale of the property, you have no claim against the property. Your claim is against the developer, dealt with and funded by their insurance (hopefully). You can either choose to engage with the process and move things forward, or you can expend energy trying fruitlessly to be difficult, one benefits you, the other does not, pick one.

factfinding8888

So the sensible option is to just let my solicitor deal with the insurance company and wait? It's currently been 6 months and nothing has happened other than a loss adjuster visiting...6 months ago.

DullGreyGuy

factfinding8888 said:

So the sensible option is to just let my solicitor deal with the insurance company and wait? It's currently been 6 months and nothing has happened other than a loss adjuster visiting...6 months ago.

You could, but why have the expense of a solicitor? You could just chase the insurer directly yourself.

factfinding8888

Good question - we engaged a solicitor as the insurance company told us to, because they could not work out if the developer was insured for all of the damage caused. The damage happened at different times, going on 3 years now, and the developer has lots of finance problems. Receivership and bankruptcy. 

DullGreyGuy

factfinding8888 said:

Good question - we engaged a solicitor as the insurance company told us to, because they could not work out if the developer was insured for all of the damage caused. The damage happened at different times, going on 3 years now, and the developer has lots of finance problems. Receivership and bankruptcy. 

Thats probably more likely because claims handlers on non-consumer insurance (or technical teams in consumer insurance) prefer dealing with other professionals than the general public, plus they act as a filter... if your solicitor tells you you can't claim for X you are more likely to accept it than their insurer telling you you can't claim for X.

MattMattMattUK

factfinding8888 said:

Good question - we engaged a solicitor as the insurance company told us to, because they could not work out if the developer was insured for all of the damage caused. The damage happened at different times, going on 3 years now, and the developer has lots of finance problems. Receivership and bankruptcy. 

Has it been established if the developer was insured or not? If they are then it does not matter if they go bankrupt or not, if they are not insured then your claim would be against any assets they have, but all those owed money would be paid the same penny in the pound of any claim.

Have you asked your solicitor what the holdup is and told them to poke the insurers with a sharp stick?