Home Insurance - Finding Temporary Accommodation

mouse_654

hello all, I wondered if anyone knows how insurance companies find temporary accommodation for their customers after they have claimed (flood, fire damage etc)? is it through the loss adjusters? or do they ask the customer to find somewhere themselves? Thanks in advance

RipleyG

It can depend on the amount of time the accommodation is expected to be needed for, but it's very common for insurers to suggest customers find somewhere themselves if it's 'proper' accommodation rather than a hotel room for a week or two.

It means customers can view and choose what suits them best, rather than an insurance agent selecting somewhere that might be awful and the subsequent arguments about whether it was 'suitable'. 

Loss adjusters are normally just assessing the value of the claim/rectification works. You might find this article helpful : https://claimrite.co.uk/loss-adjusters-guide/

DullGreyGuy

mouse_654 said:

hello all, I wondered if anyone knows how insurance companies find temporary accommodation for their customers after they have claimed (flood, fire damage etc)? is it through the loss adjusters? or do they ask the customer to find somewhere themselves? Thanks in advance

Depends on the size of the insurer and/or if the loss adjustor is internal or external. 

I have done some work with a firm that offers outsourced claims handling ranging from full delegated authority on an end to end basis through to cherry picking bits of the service on a non-authority basis. They had a dedicated team that deal with finding alternative accommodation be that a hotel or a rental. 

RipleyG said:

It can depend on the amount of time the accommodation is expected to be needed for, but it's very common for insurers to suggest customers find somewhere themselves if it's 'proper' accommodation rather than a hotel room for a week or two.

It means customers can view and choose what suits them best, rather than an insurance agent selecting somewhere that might be awful and the subsequent arguments about whether it was 'suitable'. 

Loss adjusters are normally just assessing the value of the claim/rectification works. You might find this article helpful : https://claimrite.co.uk/loss-adjusters-guide/

Like anything, there is no singular approach but in my experience most claims handlers arrange the accommodation themselves as it helps ensure the rentals are on their standard terms, have the appropriate billing arrangements, break clauses etc. Last thing you want is to give your insured free range to choose anything and then have to get into an argument with the agents because they won't agree to our terms etc.