Asprea Issues

16th jan.
last month i had a leak under my sink .being insured with the post office and having an extensive insurance policy.i thought i could get it resolved easily and painlessly.
i got the emergency plumber in,it seems that the mains stop !!!! was leaking.
before the plumber arrived and whilst bailing out the kitchen i measured the flow of water. 2 litres an hour for an unspecified amount of time.

so back onto the post office to report water damage to my kitchen (specifics later).they issue a third party claims management company(asprea) who at first seemed reasonably professional.

a surveyor was assigned to come and see me roughly a week later(23rd jan),he turned up flashed his card at me(not letting me handle or read it).
i took him into the kitchen.
he looked at the floor( 2 to 3 rows of tiles cracked due to warped water damaged floorboards)
at the under sink unit (chipboard carcass swollen and blown,laminate on doors lifted etc)
said all the rest of the units would come out and go back in ??????
worktop would be supported whilst this was going on ????
floorboards up and replaced and at that time check for underfloor damage.
took a couple of photos of the stop !!!!
pulled his tape measure in and out for a bit.
filled in a bit of paper work and said
anyone got allergies,i said we all have a touch of asthma but we manage.
that went down as a no on his paperwork.

left me a copy ,took my £100 excess and went off on his merry way,leaving me a list of items to pick for the job.

a variance order covers any other items or extra work he said.

Results: 1 x 1000mm carcass to replace(is actually 1200mm)
3m2 of floor tiling to replace
and some kickboard .
that was it ,he was useless ,didnt actually measure anything.didnt listen and wasnt interested in any way shape or form.

so i rang the personal claims adviser at asprea complained about the surveyor,and asked if this was the quality of service and skill level that i was to expect throughout my claim process and would it be possible to arrange for another survey to be carried out in a more professional manner, and was told if i wasnt happy then i was to get two quotes to cover the full scope of work and replacement items and submit them to the IOB management team including photo evidence where necessary in case they were needed at a later date,which i did.he informed me that if i wanted to use my own builders,that this was the path i had to follow.

wed:
the drying company came from rainbow and what an absolutely nice guy he was very sympathetic indeed.
he measured all the units,the dampness in the boards (100%),the walls(32 to 34%) and basically got a full picture of the kitchen sizes and visual damage,and left us a drier and dehumidifier.

he left saying he would recommend us contacting asprea(as would he) to request the tiles were lifted and kick strip taken off to aid the drying process.he would email the report to asprea that day.

great i thought sounds like someone who was actually interested.
rang asprea ,the next day and was told that i couldnt just request work done,i had to wait for the report to be received and assessed.fair enough,i thought these things take time.....

rang the next day apparently the email hadnt been received yet!

on the mon i rang again still hadnt received the report!
a bit fishy i thought

so i rang the drying company the next day,apparently the original report was emailed the previous friday and another was requested on mon at 4.30pm.
strangely enough when i rang asprea that day,they had "finally" recived it and yes someone would be contacting me to arrange taking the tiles up.

on the wed afternoon at 3.30pm 2 young lads turned up."we are here to lift your tiles and take the kickboard off" they said to my wife.
which is exactly what they did all of the tiles up(including the ones in the utility room),and left all of the tile adhesive stuck on the floorboards."sorry we cant shift that) and they left at 4.45,my wife signed the job card and asked why they had booked in at 13.30 and out at 1800.travelling expenses they said we are allowed to do that.

the 2 quotes from 2 seperate builders to cover all works and replacement items were submitted on mon.it took me about an hour before the fax machine at their end actually worked.

i rang asprea that day to ask if my quotes had been received,was told in no uncertain terms that i had to wait at least 3 days before they could see them on my records.and was to ring back after that time.

rang again on the thur,yes they had been received and no they hadnt been looked at yet!

rang on the fri not looked at yet.

rang on the mon,not looked at yet,

tue,was told it was over the 5 day limit and would now be escalated and various people emailed re. quotes.
was told i would be contacted the next day with some kind of info.

wed ,
rang asprea again.
oh yes i can see your quotes on file................
a long pause.
er
#oh
er
er
er
mmmm
mumble........
your cheapest quote seems to be 10 times the surveyors original assesment?
yes i said thats right,as i have explained to the pca originally the surveyor did not fully asess the level of damage or measure anything up.
i cant authorise that amount of money,i will have to send it back to the original surveyor and be re-asessed.


so here i am a month and a half later.

a scope of works from the surveyor which was inaccurate at best!!!!

i am unable to get a copy of rainbows report,being told that they(asprea) dont send them out.
surely i have rights under the use of information act to view what was written in that report!!!!!

on investigation after having the tiles and kickboard off for nearly 3 weeks whilst it was all dried out,a brief incomplete list of the actual damage and scope of work to the kitchen runs to the following:

1 x 1200 mm sink unit wood effect sides
2 x cupboard doors if they can be matched
1 x 1000 mm plain white corner carcass
1 x 600 mm end unit wood effect sides
kick strip all round.
approx 8 to 12 floorboards warped and needing replacing
all tiles now need replacing as the asprea workmen took the lot up not just 3m2 to the tune of approx another 3m2
walls needing water damaged plaster chipping off and replastering
2 worktops removing and replacing
tiling needing re-doing due to the plaster needing to be off
and the list goes on,
not even thought of or seen under the floorboards as of yet apparently their is a possibility of rot or mold.....

a kitchen floor with tile adhesive and shards of ceramic tiles embedded into it.and my two young children not being allowed in there for safety reasons.
apparently i can get the original guys back in to finish the job!!!!!!

Would you?

numerous phone calls to asprea chasing them!!!!

empty promises from asprea to keep me informed!!!!

shoddy and slap hazard workmen ripping the insurance company off and lying about times on jobs.and not completing the specified tasks!!!!

i am the consumer here, do i really have to put up with this apparent lack of care and quality of service?

i am left feeling as if i am a second class citizen,who in the eyes of asprea doesnt really matter.

where do i go from here ?

i was told on wed that the report would be emailed to the surveyor who was "familiar with the job" and it would take 48 hrs to get an answer.
so i (again) was to ring them on monday.which seems odd cause unless my maths is way out,from wed lunch to fri lunch is 48 hrs......

in my opinion all the original surveyor will do is cover his shoddy and innacurately put together report.

should i wait and see what parodies appear from the surveyor?

should i get an independent surveyor to come and asess the situation,and foot the bill myself?

should i get in touch with my insurance company and underwriters and talk to them?

do i get the impression that nobody is really interested in my family`s needs and safety,and that all they are doing is trying to make a quick and easy buck from the insurance company?

ive kept all the correspondance so far,including photos.
i still would like a copy of the rainbow report and also a copy of the dryness certificate,any one think ill get them?

dissolusioned to say the least


andy