Numerous issues with insurance claim - any advice?
- From: "Dave (from the UK)" <see-my-signature@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 18:14:02 +0100
My detached property suffered subsidence in 2002 - the cause being a tree jointly owned by two private individuals.
My house insurance covers this, but I seem to be a looser all the way.
It's me that has to pay the policy excess of £1000. A bit annoying really, when it was not my fault. I gather this is the way the law works, which seems unreasonable but I guess there is nothing I can do about it. So that's £1000 gone.
The insurers subcontracted an engineering company to manage the claim They then subject various companies including experts on trees, builders etc.
Various things have gone wrong, which in isolation I could probably dismiss, but overall I am rather fed up about and would like to get some compensation. I'm interested what is my best way to approach this.
1) After I submitted names, addresses and phone numbers of the tree owners to the engineering company they did nothing for 4 weeks - not even send a letter requesting the owners remove the tree, although their own report says it needed to be done quickly.
2) When they did issue letters, the two owners of the tree agreed for it to be removed. But the letter was confusing, as at one point it said they were only liable for the costs of removal, then later implying they might be liable for damage to the property. The two landowners and myself all found it confusing. Anyway, there then followed long negotiations about this issue. I feel the engineering company could have just got it removed and sort out the costs later. It was well over 3 months before the tree was removed. (I have a letter on which I complained after 3 months, but I don't have a record of the day it was felled).
3) A letter sent from the engineering company back in December 2004 states the drains would be surveyed to check for possible damage by another tree. This has still not happened, despite several requests for this to take place. I keep being told it will be done.
4) A number of cracks on the exterior walls (all 4) were repaired. The rendering was patched up. Despite they paying for repainting, the marks are still viable. The builders tell me the only way that can be avoided is to remove the render and do the lot. They say they think that would have been the best method, but the engineering company choose a cheaper one.
5) After the claim had begun, but before any remedial work under this claim started taking place, my wife and I decided to have new PVC windows installed.
We asked the engineering company if the windows should be fitted before or after the work insurance work started. They said before, so we did this. The windows were installed. When the builders turned up to paint the exterior of the properly, we advised them the windows had just been installed at a cost of over £12,000 and to take care of them.
They did not, with each being covered in flicks of paint from their rollers - they did not bother covering the windows.
The company that supplied the windows says it will not be possible to remove the paint without damaging the windows. The builders say it will, since the exterior paint is water based and can be removed with hot water. Well, it is now a year after they painted the house and they have still not bothered to actually remove the specks of paint, despite repeated requests.
6) The builders started to strip the bathroom of cracked tiles a year ago. They put plasterboard above the bath, but then seem to have gone onto other jobs (not on my property), so a year later there is still no tiles above the bath.
7) Now the bit that is really annoying me!! The tiles around the bath, around the shows and the shower base are all cracked. The shower base is part of a suite (bath, toilet, bidet, shower, two sinks) but is no longer available. So they have offered to fit a non-matching unit only. I feel this is quite unfair, as the units were installed as a matching set and are a good make (Armitage Shanks). I gather this is in the policy, so I might be stuffed here too.
So overall it seems due to no fault if my own, I
1) Loose £1000 policy excess.
2) Suffer lots of unnecessary inconvenience due to delays by builders.
3) Will have to live with some visible repair marks, which could be made invisible if more money had been spent and the who house rendered.
4) Now have a bathroom suite that does not match, despite it all matching to start with.
5) *Possibly* have damaged PVC windows.
I'd like the insurers to at least pay for the bathroom units to be replaced so they all match, which might be reasonable compensation for the other hassles I have had.
If the windows are damaged and the paint can't be moved, I'd like something for that too.
Any suggestions?
--
Dave K MCSE.
MCSE = Minefield Consultant and Solitaire Expert.
Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@domain. Hitting reply will work
for a couple of months only. Later set it manually.
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