Vehicle into front wall

mills705

Never thought id be writing this but a neighbour has reversed off their drive, over a rockery and large bush and then into my property. They have damaged the front wall/ windows and pushed a radiator off the wall. You could see the vehicle through the wall! 

The vehicle was brand new (75 plate and had just picked it up) it was a hybrid and automatic - all of which were new to the driver. 

We have contacted our insurer - They have instructed a supplier to board it up and have sent a surveyor (this was Friday). Yesterday (Monday) we had a loss adjuster come round - he has instructed someone to look at alternative accomodation for us and another company to look at our contents as brick work etc was all over the living room. 

My partner and I are currently at my parents which is OK but not sustainable - my partner is currently 7.5 months pregnant. 

1- Does anyone have any idea of a timeframe of how long we would be out the house for? 
2- Is it normal to have a loss adjuster and a surveyor come out? 
3- Are home insurance claims always this slow to progress? (I feel like no one works weekends?) 

I work in the sales of insurance so rarely see the back end but I feel like there is very little communication going on. 

Apart from my initial call with the insurer I have not heard a word from them which surprises me somewhat. 

Keep_pedalling

Don’t think anyone can answer Q1, and I would have thought it would be necessary to have an engineer look at the damage ASAP to assess the structural damage before allowing anyone else in the building.

MyRealNameToo

mills705 said:

Never thought id be writing this but a neighbour has reversed off their drive, over a rockery and large bush and then into my property. They have damaged the front wall/ windows and pushed a radiator off the wall. You could see the vehicle through the wall! 

The vehicle was brand new (75 plate and had just picked it up) it was a hybrid and automatic - all of which were new to the driver. 

We have contacted our insurer - They have instructed a supplier to board it up and have sent a surveyor (this was Friday). Yesterday (Monday) we had a loss adjuster come round - he has instructed someone to look at alternative accomodation for us and another company to look at our contents as brick work etc was all over the living room. 

My partner and I are currently at my parents which is OK but not sustainable - my partner is currently 7.5 months pregnant. 

1- Does anyone have any idea of a timeframe of how long we would be out the house for? 
2- Is it normal to have a loss adjuster and a surveyor come out? 
3- Are home insurance claims always this slow to progress? (I feel like no one works weekends?) 

I work in the sales of insurance so rarely see the back end but I feel like there is very little communication going on. 

Apart from my initial call with the insurer I have not heard a word from them which surprises me somewhat. 

1) Depends on the extent of the damage and the availability of the relevant trades in your area. If its deemed structural damage its likely to take longer than cosmetic

2) Insurers vary at the threshold they appoint a loss adjuster including based on how busy they are. Most will appoint one on this type of damage. Given you state the damage to the wall is sufficient that you can see the car through it then yes would expect a surveyor to check the structural integrity of the building.  The loss adjuster will basically manage the claim going forwards in most cases.

3) You dont say when you reported the claim? Sounds like in under a week you've had emergency works, a surveyor and loss adjuster; to most that would be far from slow. You'll find other threads on here of people being a month on from reporting a claim and still awaiting first contract from the loss adjuster. 

A lot will depend on what authority the adjuster has. In some companies they can deal with claims up to £300k on their own in which case they'll be awaiting the surveyors report and arranging quotes from the likely trades etc. In other firms they have no authority at all and they need to wait the surveyors report to then write their own report that has to go to the insurer for them to authorise the proposed work. Needless to say one is much quicker than the other. 

Insurance contact centres tend to be open every day, more technical teams tend to be closer to mon-fri. At the end of my claims days 40% of my calls were to law firms who arent open on weekends, 30% to my opposite number in other insurers and 20% to customers or third parties. Whilst there was occasionally saturday working when we had backlogs it was all to deal with post as there was insufficient calls to make it worth while being on the phones. 

FrugaiMacDugal

mills705 said:

Never thought id be writing this but a neighbour has reversed off their drive, over a rockery and large bush and then into my property. They have damaged the front wall/ windows and pushed a radiator off the wall. You could see the vehicle through the wall! 

The vehicle was brand new (75 plate and had just picked it up) it was a hybrid and automatic - all of which were new to the driver. 

We have contacted our insurer - They have instructed a supplier to board it up and have sent a surveyor (this was Friday). Yesterday (Monday) we had a loss adjuster come round - he has instructed someone to look at alternative accomodation for us and another company to look at our contents as brick work etc was all over the living room. 

My partner and I are currently at my parents which is OK but not sustainable - my partner is currently 7.5 months pregnant. 

1- Does anyone have any idea of a timeframe of how long we would be out the house for? 
2- Is it normal to have a loss adjuster and a surveyor come out? 
3- Are home insurance claims always this slow to progress? (I feel like no one works weekends?) 
I work in the sales of insurance so rarely see the back end but I feel like there is very little communication going on. 

Apart from my initial call with the insurer I have not heard a word from them which surprises me somewhat. 

3- Are home insurance claims always this slow to progress? (I feel like no one works weekends?) 

You say you only contacted your insurer on Friday and somebody there on Monday, I would say that's pretty good.

Do you work weekends?

Would think insurer will be waiting for a report back first.

daveyjp

Unfortunately you need to be working on months.  Following a house fire, which resulted in more water than fire damage, my sister was out of her home for over a year.

The time to do the work may not be long, the pre construction process and securing contractors is where the time goes.

As an aside this story is why I told my aging father not to change to a modern car with an auto gearbox. He last drove an auto about 50 years ago and my mum has never driven one.

MattMattMattUK

mills705 said:

Never thought id be writing this but a neighbour has reversed off their drive, over a rockery and large bush and then into my property. They have damaged the front wall/ windows and pushed a radiator off the wall. You could see the vehicle through the wall! 

The vehicle was brand new (75 plate and had just picked it up) it was a hybrid and automatic - all of which were new to the driver. 

We have contacted our insurer - They have instructed a supplier to board it up and have sent a surveyor (this was Friday). Yesterday (Monday) we had a loss adjuster come round - he has instructed someone to look at alternative accomodation for us and another company to look at our contents as brick work etc was all over the living room. 

My partner and I are currently at my parents which is OK but not sustainable - my partner is currently 7.5 months pregnant. 

1- Does anyone have any idea of a timeframe of how long we would be out the house for? 

How long is a piece of string? If really depends on the extent of the damage, if any of it is structural, if it has compromised the integrity of the whole building. Regardless I would expect the full resolution to be in the months rather than weeks range.

mills705 said:

2- Is it normal to have a loss adjuster and a surveyor come out? 

Yes, a loss adjuster is standard and they need a surveyor to assess the damage, the risk of structural collapse, estimate cost of work, if anything needs additional support etc.

mills705 said:

3- Are home insurance claims always this slow to progress? (I feel like no one works weekends?) 

I would not think that what you have said so far is slow. 

mills705 said:

I work in the sales of insurance so rarely see the back end but I feel like there is very little communication going on. 

Apart from my initial call with the insurer I have not heard a word from them which surprises me somewhat. 

I would expect that they need to find a relevant surveyor to get them out to assess, coordinate the visit with the loss adjuster and then work forward from there. They will not have been able to start booking that until Monday, it could easily be the back end of the week, or even next. 

TELLIT01

A surveyor would be required to assess the extent of the structural damage.  I would imagine it could be substantial if a car was visible from inside the building.  How long to fix?  As others have said - how long is a piece of string.  As the insurer is providing alternative accommodation they probably don't see it with the same urgency you do.  Push them, and stress that fact that you have a baby due in a few weeks.  Accommodation which might be OK for a couple, won't necessarily be OK once the baby arrives.

mills705

Thanks all 

I guess the 'unknown' here is frustrating. 

Clarifying a few points
A surveyor attended the day of the incident alongside two people that removed the main rubbish and boarded up the hole. 

I have had a loss adjuster out to look at the damage and also discuss alternative accomodation options. 

Today someone came out and looked at the contents element.

Our insurer has not contacted us since I rang them - not a follow up call to check on our well being etc which I thought they would do. 

The loss adjuster said he would call the surveyor from the car to ask about the scope of works etc and would let us know. Again we have not heard anything since 11.30 yesterday. Just feels like its wishy washy- ie oh we will call you but no timescales attached onto anything. 

FrugaiMacDugal

mills705 said:

Our insurer has not contacted us since I rang them - not a follow up call to check on our well being etc which I thought they would do. 

Nener heard of insurance companies doing welfare calls, check your contract to see if it's included.

MattMattMattUK

mills705 said:

Thanks all 

I guess the 'unknown' here is frustrating. 

Clarifying a few points
A surveyor attended the day of the incident alongside two people that removed the main rubbish and boarded up the hole. 

I have had a loss adjuster out to look at the damage and also discuss alternative accomodation options. 

Today someone came out and looked at the contents element.

Our insurer has not contacted us since I rang them - not a follow up call to check on our well being etc which I thought they would do. 

The loss adjuster said he would call the surveyor from the car to ask about the scope of works etc and would let us know. Again we have not heard anything since 11.30 yesterday. Just feels like its wishy washy- ie oh we will call you but no timescales attached onto anything. 

All of that seems quick and efficient, I agree with Frugai, I have never known an insurance company do a welfare check, being blunt your wellbeing is of no concern to them beyond their contractual obligation. 

They will get in contact again when they have useful information to share which will require the surveyors speaking to the loss adjuster, an assessment of costs to repair/rebuild, likely timescales, alternative accommodation etc. but the fact that you have had five people out already, only three days and one and a half working days since the incident does not sound like they are being in any way low. 

I really think you need to temper your expectation of the timescale for this, I would not expect daily phone calls, I would not expect wellbeing phone calls, and I would be genuinely surprised if you were back in the house this year, let alone this month.