Home Insurance Claim

[jedi_master]

Hi all,

Arrived back home from a three week holiday at 6am to find the entirety of the downstairs of the house flooded (flooded a strong word, more like 1-2 inches of water in the kitchen, all carpeting/furniture in all rooms downstairs rotted/mouldy, kitchen worktops and fittings likewise) having - seemingly - had the boiler bust/leak non stop for potentially the entirety of our holiday. I’m guessing it’s the boiler, water was still coming out of it as I opened the door, shut the mains off and turned electricity off as a precaution.

Putting this on here as I wondered if anyone here had ever had a similar, frankly devastating situation. Myself, wife and 14 month old baby are staying at a relative but that is not sustainable, my dog is remaining at my Mum and Dads back in Burnley (looked after her whilst we were on holiday). We have a loss adjuster coming tomorrow arranged by our home insurer (LV), I’m assuming there role is to ensure it isn’t a fraudulent claim etc? Never had to make a claim on any insurance before so this is (thankfully) all new to me.

Any advice etc greatly received on do’s/dont’s, cheers.

[tim_noone]

The loss adjusters coming because it's going to be a big claim you'll be in good hands I'm sure.

[Quickenthetempo]

Film everything with your phone so you don't forget to claim for owt.

[pureclaret]

the insurance company will pay for a hotel or home rental whilst claim processed and work done normally at least £20k for this

[conyoviejo]

Absolutely gutted for you Jedi.. The insurance company will sort it no problem.. Don't you have a stop tap ?

[Terrybfc]

Had a home insurance claim a couple of years ago so firstly I’m sorry to hear about what’s gone on. Remember carpets are covered by contents not buildings for some bizarre reason. Also look into hiring your own loss assessor as they’ll fight your corner and claim for things you didn’t even think about at the time, however they charge 10% of your claim payout

[colne-claret]

Take pictures of everything. List all contents no matter how small they are. Don't be afraid of putting high prices on as generally they will pay out for contents. Loss Adjustor will look what work needs doing and talk you through the process. Make sure you get dehumidifiers in as soon as possible. It can take weeks to dry out and no work will start until it's confirmed as dry. Claim for the electricity that is used for the dehumidifiers as well. You can get compensation for staying away at relatives too. They generally then will pass it on to a repair firm who will then come and do their own measurements etc. It's a lengthy process unfortunately. Happened to us in July and the work still hasn't started. I found that the insurance companies were generally helpful and have got everything sorted. No arguments about prices etc but just a lengthy process for costs to be signed off. If you don't mind me asking who are you insured with and what company have been placed on charge of dealing with your claim?

[colne-claret]

Also should have said sorry to hear that. From experience, it's a horrible feeling. It's the not knowing of what happens next that got me.

[john'sroseyspecs]

See at lot of this at work. To add to the good advice above, don't throw anything away yet. Be prepared to contest their valuation. Don't even allow a suggestion that any negligence caused it (ie the boiler was knackered). When you get to the point of getting repairs and decorating done you don't have to accept their recommended firm. Some are good but some are terrible. Hope things get sorted for you

[Terrybfc]

Also if the insurance company are slow paying out your claim you can get some money for the inconvenience I think if they don’t pay within 90 days you’re eligible for it

[colne-claret]

See at lot of this at work. To add to the good advice above, don't throw anything away yet. Be prepared to contest their valuation. Don't even allow a suggestion that any negligence caused it (ie the boiler was knackered). When you get to the point of getting repairs and decorating done you don't have to accept their recommended firm. Some are good but some are terrible. Hope things get sorted for you

To be fair most these days cover accidental damage anyway. Hopefully you will get a brand new boiler too and not just a repair.

[jedi_master]

Take pictures of everything. List all contents no matter how small they are. Don't be afraid of putting high prices on as generally they will pay out for contents. Loss Adjustor will look what work needs doing and talk you through the process. Make sure you get dehumidifiers in as soon as possible. It can take weeks to dry out and no work will start until it's confirmed as dry. Claim for the electricity that is used for the dehumidifiers as well. You can get compensation for staying away at relatives too. They generally then will pass it on to a repair firm who will then come and do their own measurements etc. It's a lengthy process unfortunately. Happened to us in July and the work still hasn't started. I found that the insurance companies were generally helpful and have got everything sorted. No arguments about prices etc but just a lengthy process for costs to be signed off. If you don't mind me asking who are you insured with and what company have been placed on charge of dealing with your claim?

Thanks all to the above, in response to this post, insurer is LV (Liverpool Victoria), the firm they have appointed who contacted me about the Loss Adjustor is called Vericlaim I believe. Scary hearing some of the timescales being mentioned here.

[colne-claret]

Thanks all to the above, in response to this post, insurer is LV (Liverpool Victoria), the firm they have appointed who contacted me about the Loss Adjustor is called Vericlaim I believe. Scary hearing some of the timescales being mentioned here.

Different to who we had then. Ours was called Crawford. Yeah that's my negative comment about insurance. One of the main problems is the time for drying. It takes weeks.

[Burnleybabe]

We had a fire on 28th September so going through a very big Insurance claim ATM.

The room where the fire started if about £14900, just for our belongings in that room.

If you are confused about what is covered by Building, or Contents.

I was told that if you turned your House upside down anything that fell out was contents.

Carpets are classed as Contents as they are not actually stuck to the floor as such.

We have the added Complication, of having them Insured by different company's.

Our's was mainly getting rid of the smell of smoke and cleaning everywhere, this was done by a Company.

As was the removal of all our belongings, furniture, pictures etc etc to be either Cleaned PAC tested or made BER (Beyond Economical Repair).

Someone also came to assess and measure for all our floor coverings.

I would follow all the advice from the rest of these replies, and would appoint your own Loss Adjuster.

We have been in a Premier Inn for 4 weeks, but have now found somewhere to Rent, still waiting to find out when we can move in.

You can also rent any beds, furniture ect for the rental.

We have still not been told everything that needs replacing yet, but anything that was for children is automatically BER

We are meeting a contractor later this week to go through what has to be done, from the Buildings side of it.

It is a very slow process, but nag them if you feel things are going to slowly.

Save any Receipts for anything you have paid out for.

Good Luck

BB

[Falcon]

I work in insurance claims. If you need any advice give us a shout.

[jedi_master]

Thanks Falcon.

Our loss adjustor came yesterday, approved the claim to essentially replace everything downstairs (except the boiler, as that is classed as ‘wear and tear’ apparently due to it’s age, the boiler was the cause of the issue but LV cover all damage caused by it). So they are replacing all carpets, lino, furniture, new kitchen and all electronics that fail PAT testing.

He gave a timeframe of 3-4 months for completion, we will see I suppose. LV have covered us up to £50,000 for re-homing so we are looking at rental properties local to our house today (though the temptation was there to get a mansion on the budget we were afforded!). Very stressful situation but we feel a lot better having had it formally approved and being told next steps.

Awaiting a call from ‘Rainbow’ this morning who our Adjustor called yesterday to commence the dehumidification/drying/initial restoration process.

[jedi_master]

Also forgot to mention they are going to replace all door frames, doors and skirting.

[Lancasterclaret]

Having being flooded out in Storm Desmond, all I can say is make sure that there is full damp check done as it climbs the walls.

We were flooded to about 1 foot deep, and had to have everything on the ground floor replaced (though we had advance warning so everything moveable was moved)

And you should make sure that your insurance company pays your rent in a house as you can't stay in your house.

We were out for just over six months (but we did take advantage of the fact we had to move out to do other stuff to the house)

Its absolutely horrible and I feel for you, but all I can really say is that you get through it and keep reminding yourself that every day you are getting closer to moving back home.

They are going to pay for you to live somewhere else I hope?

EDIT - ignore last bit as they are!

[Dyched]

Sounds like a nightmare Jedi. Best of luck. Like Lancaster, maybe you can take advantage and do some work on the house.

[Lancasterclaret]

Just double checking here

Have you got plasterboard internal walls, or is it all stone/brick?

If its plasterboard, they have to be replaced

If its thick stone, then it will take longer for the dehumidifies to do their stuff

Good luck and it does get better.

[Burnleybabe]

Thanks Falcon.

Our loss adjustor came yesterday, approved the claim to essentially replace everything downstairs (except the boiler, as that is classed as ‘wear and tear’ apparently due to it’s age, the boiler was the cause of the issue but LV cover all damage caused by it). So they are replacing all carpets, lino, furniture, new kitchen and all electronics that fail PAT testing.

He gave a timeframe of 3-4 months for completion, we will see I suppose. LV have covered us up to £50,000 for re-homing so we are looking at rental properties local to our house today (though the temptation was there to get a mansion on the budget we were afforded!). Very stressful situation but we feel a lot better having had it formally approved and being told next steps.

Awaiting a call from ‘Rainbow’ this morning who our Adjustor called yesterday to commence the dehumidification/drying/initial restoration process.

We had Rainbow for our buildings, just a tip keep on top of them.
They kept missing places when they were cleaning our house from the soot etc.
They did do a meter reading before they brought in the dehumidifier and machine for reducing the smell of smoke.

[colne-claret]

Just think that by the end of it you will more or less have a whole new downstairs. That's what I keep telling myself. I agree that the not knowing is the worst. I felt physically sick when it first happened to us, luckily we was in the house but it happened in the middle of the night. Still did enough damage. If you push them about the boiler they may give you some money towards a new one.

[colne-claret]

How are you progressing with the insurance claim?

[jedi_master]

Just to let those know who asked/provided assistance, I was delighted this morning to be told our 'Certificate of Dryness' has now been issued (Rainbow, the company tasked with drying the property have been excellent to be honest). We had big issues getting the property dry because the moisture had reached the foundations such was the extent of the water that escaped, the dehumidifiers and dryers didn't sort it. Rainbow had to use a newer technology where they physically drilled through our floor to the foundation, and put industrial piping in to dry the foundations out.

Our house is a total state, but the fun stuff happens now. Builders quotes are all approved and next step is meeting the project manager 'on-site' (bit weird to call our home that) to discuss decoration/kitchen style etc and they get cracking.

As far as insurance goes, we provided our estimates for replacement of our furniture and everything to Liverpool Victoria and I guess I can now expect a battle with them over how much we actually get for our contents payout. I was very sensible/careful and didn't over estimate/lie about a thing and it came to £15,200 when itemised for everything destroyed (Rainbow wrote every single thing on the ground floor of our house off, it ended up being 15 pages worth of items).

So, there's light at the end of the tunnel for me after what has been a truly stressful time, it was hard being out of our home over Christmas but we can start being excited to get home I think now.

[Fretters]

Gutted for you Jedi, I somehow missed this post. What a horrendous thing to happen. This happened to a neighbour of my in-laws and it was a horrible time for them but, at the end of it all, at least they've ended up with brand new rooms in the whole downstairs with nice, modern decor and a fitted kitchen. I think it actually increased the value of their house. A silver lining I suppose!

[CleggHall]

Good luck jedi, hard to bear but hopefully your patience will be rewarded by both LV and the joy of living in a restored home.
A house is not a home!

[Burnleybabe]

We are coming to the end of our nightmare.
We should be in the house at the end of January.
Then I suppose the hard work starts, moving back in and finding out which pictures etc we get back.
Very hard when you get 2 sheets of pictures frames with just measurements, no descriptions.
We have had 38 sheets Beyond Economical Repair, some of them as late as week before Christmas.
We didn't have a battle over the contents at all, the only thing we have lost money on was the TV.
Aviva were great, we were lucky as we used the same family company for all our carpets and furniture.
So they accepted their estimates without any questions.
Good Luck with it all.

[jedi_master]

We are coming to the end of our nightmare.
We should be in the house at the end of January.
Then I suppose the hard work starts, moving back in and finding out which pictures etc we get back.
Very hard when you get 2 sheets of pictures frames with just measurements, no descriptions.
We have had 38 sheets Beyond Economical Repair, some of them as late as week before Christmas.
We didn't have a battle over the contents at all, the only thing we have lost money on was the TV.
Aviva were great, we were lucky as we used the same family company for all our carpets and furniture.
So they accepted their estimates without any questions.
Good Luck with it all.

Fantastic news BB, very happy for you that it's coming to an end. Good luck to you too.

[Lancasterclaret]

Good news for both of you.

Took us just over seven months (but I had enough warning to save every single thing that I could move on the ground floor!)

[Falcon]

One thing I would recommend to anybody when it comes to contents insurance is act now to get a list of your stuff. Don't wait until you need to claim for it.

With modern technology you could spend 10 minutes doing a video 'tour' of your house showing everything you own but might forget about in the heat of a claim (especially for cases of fire or burglary where the stuff isn't still physically there).