Household Insurance Claim involving Norwich Union/Asprea/Homeserve

lesley.cann

I am presently in the ongoing nightmare that is trying to get the work done that is needed to repair the damage caused by a water leak. After an original claim was turned down last summer when it was misdiagnosed as a damp course problem, the ASPREA surveyor sent out by NORWICH UNION finally agreed the claim at the end of 2007 when a leaking pipe was discovered in the adjacent kitchen. The work needed included hacking off and drying out plaster in adjoining kitchen/lounge wall, removal and replacement of four base kitchen cabinets, removal of floor tiles in kitchen, re-plastering and redecoration in kitchen and lounge.

Not a big job in the scheme of things but to date thanks to the (non) efforts of NU/ASPREA/HOMESERVE all that has been done is the hacking off of plaster/drying out/removal of kitchen tiles. This has only been done because I have had to badger the above organisations almost daily to try to get any builders, etc., out. When I have complained to Asprea they have said Homeserve were at fault and vice versa; the five or so telephone complaints to Norwich Union have produced nothing.

The walls have been dried out for 8 weeks now and I have almost gone into meltdown trying to get them to agree the costs of a schedule which was sent to me on 28th March by Homeserve as the one from which the sub-contractors would be working.

This morning, after another phone call to the sub-contractors who did not phone me as promised yesterday I have got a date next week for some re-plastering to be done. I feel sure this would not be happening if I had not chased them up.

What I would like to know from other people is just how common this type of service is experienced. I have seen other posts from people in the same nightmare but I wanted to start another, more recent post to see if it is picked up by anyone else. I have made a formal complaint to NU via email and await their response but I am not hopeful that they can explain why I have endured such terrible service. It would be helpful if I knew just how widespread this level of service is since ASPREA were introduced to help guide us through our household claim experience.

[Deleted User]

Hi lesley

I'm sorry that you feel so let down by the service you have recieved. I will investigate this for you, if you can email me your policy number and/or claim number and I'll get back to you asap

My email address is [EMAIL="rebecca.sibley@norwich-union.co.uk"]rebecca.sibley@norwich-union.co.uk[/EMAIL]

Thanks
Becca

[Deleted User]

I'm sorry lesley, I've just realised you have already emailed me about this one. I am looking into this.

Apologies
Becca

Oscar_The_Grouch

Lesley,

I hope that Beccus can solve your problem for you and I hope that future readers of this thread realise that the issue is with the contractor rather than the insurer.... Well... sort of.

NU are able to sell their service on price; they have a massive income from the premiums they collect and although they probably pay out as much in claims as they get in, they are able to use the money to fund investments and make a profit.

A few simple pounds can make all the difference to their profits; if they are 2nd on the list to Direct Line even by 50p, people will not insure with them. So they are constantly looking at their prices and trying to find ways of saving money.

The easiest way to save money is to run regular tender exercises for everything from electrical replacement to building repairs. Just like the premiums you as policyholders select, the one with the lowest price is the one that gets the job.

This is where the truth will out; you get what you pay for!!

NU get a contractor that will cut corners to make a profit and you get seriously poor service. The problem is that you picked the cheapest price on the website, rather than looking at who has the best claims service. You are one of many that will only find out what you paid for when you make a claim and realise that the cast iron protection you thought you had is actually a rusted pile of slag!

Where does this leave Beccus? Probably overworked and if I know NU, underpaid!!

Beccus has no control over who NU use as their approved contractors, although I am sure that she wishes she does. I am also sure that the "beancouterns" who decided that Asprea were a good firm to use looked at the bottom line rather than the customer comments.

In short, when your policy comes up for renewal, don't just look at the price; think about what will happen when you make a claim and give Beccus a break for once!!

lesley.cann

Hello Oscar,

Thank you for responding to my post. Your point that we chose the wrong company on the website: the irony of it is that my husband worked for the Northern/Commercial Union/Norwich Union for nearly 40 years on the Life side and as such we get special rates as ex employees. (He is now, by the way, a successful IFA with qualifications up to his ears and wishes he had left NU years ago but that is another story.)

When the subcontractor failed to phone me Tuesday I emailed a formal complaint to the Chief Executive's office which I found on their website. Once again, I took the initiative and phoned the subcontractor and finally got them to arrange for a plasterer to come next week. NU phoned me yesterday afternoon re the complaint and after I told them in no uncertain terms how I felt about the situation they suggested we might prefer to get in our own contractors. I said (a) why hadn't this been suggested to me on the many occasions I had phoned their call centre, and (b) as there had been some progress with the subcontractor I would wait to see what happened if the plasterer arrived next week and what subsequent work dates were offered. NU agreed to this, said the complaint was going forward to relevant manager who would contact Asprea. I told her that from speaking to people at Homeserve/subcontractors that my experience was not uncommon but she said her feedback did not show this; this is why I have posted my original and latest posts to gauge if this is true or not. The thought came into my head yesterday that the whole set up is 'not fit for purpose' and is scandalous if this is being allowed to go on. Our claim has been going on since August last year - perhaps their theory is that eventually they will grind you down to give in and just sit back, something I have not been prepared to do despite several 'meltdowns' at weekends after trying almost daily to get something done!

Thanks again for your insight.

Lesley Cann

mattymoo

Two excellent posts. Oscar - you stopped short of saying that as well as tendering exercises for suppliers, the large insurers also inflict similar cuts on their workforce, diluting experience in the process.

Lesley, quite galling that they should treat their own staff / pensioners (after 40 yrs I'm guessing he's entitled) this way. I'm sure your husband can remember the days when the life / general offices were in the same building and if he didn't like the way a claim was being handled, he could bend the claims managers ear about it over morning coffee.

lesley.cann

Mattymoo

In the words of Mary Hopkins - 'Those were the days, my friend, We thought they'd never end .............'

Lesley

haguiera

there's a very good reason NU use Asprea - they own the company!

they set it up in Nov 2006 in conjunction with construction giants Carrillion!

do yourself a favour and bomb these cowboys out! i got NU to appoint Loss Adjusters Cunningham Lynsey. I then told CL what i thought of Asprea and that i didnt want them in my house!

they said that was fine and to get 2 quotes for the work to be done using my preferred builders and sent me a cheque for the lowest - took about 2 weeks altogether!

P.S - i've heard that Asprea are tryibng to get the Loss Adjuster contract off CL (and it must be only a matter of time before they do) so be quick before they manipulate this side of things as well!

good luck all!