Home Insurance/loss adjuster - (legal?) advice sought please

[cman]

Hi all,

Some of you know my wife and I were victims of the severe flooding earlier this year in the Thames Valley region, in Jan/Feb.
Without going into extensive detail, we lost pretty much everything you can imagine; from our clothes, to electrical appliances (TVs, lamps, etc.), to all freestanding bedroom/living room/dining furniture, to all fitted kitchen and bathroom units. We did manage to move a few belongings away before the worst hit (car, sentimental/wedding related items, legal documents, etc).

We have been in temporary accommodation since Feb (limited space, limited clothes).

Feb 2014:

There was a ~6 week period were the insurance company were somewhat quiet before confirming they will progress our claim (!). 6 weeks of very dark days, the both of us were signed off work due to the trauma and I ended up selling my car, iPad and iMac (all via TZ incidentally) to raise funds to support the task we were inevitably going to face in rebuilding our home.

A timeline of 4-6 months was finally provided for renovation by loss adjusters. Relief.

Apr 2014:

A drying company were appointed. They removed the 'contents' of our home to ready the property for drying; they deployed industrial dehumidifiers running 24/7. During this same period building contractors were also appointed, and proceeded to hack off ~1.5m of plaster from the floor up, and remove flooring, exposing joists, across the property to aid overall drying.

June 2014:

Following the drying programme, the property was certified dry and hygienic, ready for building work. The drying specialists handed over to the building contractors who can start reinstatement.

July 2014:

Building contractors still not started. My wife and I are chasing the appointed loss adjusters every few days seeking updates, etc. They talk the talk and assure us of progress but no tangible action visible.
Rat infestation at our gutted property (garden now has grass around 1.5ft high) reported by annoyed neighbours.
Wasps nest also present.

August 2014:

With zero progress made (we visit the site to check ourselves), we escalate to the senior management at loss adjusters and MD of building contractors, seeking commitment.
We are provided with a 14 week programme of works, broken down by week and dependency (electrics, sub-floor sanitation, plastering, etc.) with Week 1 being the final week in July.

Now we are in 'Week 5' of their plan but the work carried out only corresponds to 'Week 2'. Another escalation yesterday saw the loss adjusters chase the building contractors who indicated they will issue a revised time line (!).
The above is totally unacceptable from our perspective. We are becoming seriously annoyed/depressed!

Advice

Can anybody advise whether we are simply at their mercy or whether we have the power to do something about the situation? If so, ideas welcome.
Whilst there is probably a legal stance on this, we don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot by threatening the parties involved, given we will be the ones who suffer and be left without a home!


All advice & comments welcome

[GRK]

Two years ago we had a rainwater flood and ended up in a similar situation with ceiling down and plaster work and flooring ruined. We went with the loss adjuster's company to get everything dried out which also involved stripping out plasterwork and oak flooring. However we dug our heels in and insisted in appointing our own choice of companies to do the restoration work which involved replacing traditional plaster cornices and woodwork plus replacement oak block flooring to blend in with he rest of the house. The whole job took just over six months, a third of which was negotiating with the loss adjusters over quotations. Once we got the work started we were able to work directly with the contractors over scheduling and payment and the work was done quickly and effectively. Biggest delays we had were working with the loss adjusters who seemed to have too much work on as did their direct cleaning/drying contractor. Our main priority in going with our choice of contractor was to get the quality of work we wanted on a traditional property but I'm glad we did go down that route since it resulted in the contractors working directly for us rather than through a third party.

Not sure if a similar arrangement is possible for you given where you are in the process but it certainly paid off for us. The only reason we used the loss adjuster's cleaning /drying contractor was to make sure that there were no future comebacks if dry rot or a similar nasty showed up a year later and needed al the cosmetic work to be stripped out to fix it.

Hope that helps
regards
grant

[Wednesday]

A brief reply (not TLDR, but I am too busy to really take it all in): bypass the loss adjusters. They have a delegated authority but that means that they can act for the insurer and you may deal with them, but you do not have to.

Write to the insurers chief executive and request a copy of heir formal complaint procedure. Complete this and wait. After eight weeks you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service who will ensure that your claim is dealt with correctly.


You can also contact them directly now and I believe that they will take your complain immediately due to the length of time that has passed.


They have teeth, and always ensure that insurers do what they have to do.

[cman]

Thanks for the input, GRK, but as you mention we are passed that stage now. Contractors have been appointed via the surveyors network.

Write to the insurers chief executive and request a copy of heir formal complaint procedure. Complete this and wait. After eight weeks you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service who will ensure that your claim is dealt with correctly.


You can also contact them directly now and I believe that they will take your complain immediately due to the length of time that has passed.

Thank you.

Writing to the Chief Exec of insurers - I can see it getting passed down the 'chain of command'. We no longer deal with the insurance company and haven't done so since the claim began. They passed us on to the surveyors/loss adjuster who introduced themselves as effectively the project manager for the works required. They then appointed a building claims management company. Who then appointed a localised building contractor (to make things even more difficult there are several contacts within those 4 distinct parties).

The bit in bold, are you referring to the Financial Ombudsman? They were our next port of call but we feared that will formalise things so much so that 1] everybody would down tools until the legalities are sorted out... and if they didn't would 2] they begin to take short cuts with their building/reinstatement work. Neither of those we want to invite!

[Malcolm68]

I've been in a similar situation, still am actually.

My claim was reported in May 2010 and 4 1/2 years later, it still not settled. My background is Insurance so if I haven't been able to get these comedians sorted, you certainly have my sympathies. I moved into a rental house in April last year for a 12 week job, and I'm still in it.

I can only say what Wednesday has said. Since the FSA have got involved in regulating Insurance, there is a certain procedure to complain officially. Any letter you write to the Chief Exec should be given to the Insurers compliance Dept, and they have a certain amount of time to reply. Assuming the insurer isn't a Lloyds syndicate, if you are not satisfied with their reply, then you can then go to the Ombudsman (FOS). If they are a Lloyds syndicate, you have to first complain to Lloyds before you get to the FOS.

Having had experience of this, and having to go through it again, its not a quick procedure but once the Insurer knows the FOS are either involved, or likely to be involved, it tends to get them moving.

If you are being dealt with by a delegated authority scheme, chances are the Insurer does not know your issues so it is certainly worthwhile writing to them.

Malc

[cman]

Wow, that's scary, Malcom68. A 12 week job that's taken 16 months so far???

Your final comment gives confidence to us in flagging the situation to the insurers. Looks like the Ombudsman is the way to go...

[burnsey66]

Can you not appoint your own assessor to liase with the insurance provided adjuster?

Im also pretty sure you don't have to use the provide de contractor either. But may not be feasible with the adjoining property also affected etc.

I'd expect it to be funded as part of the total claim, which, because they know the system, will be in excess enough to cover their fees.

[mickylall]

As Burnsey says get your own loss adjuster,we were in a similar situation (small flood ) and the insurance were pathetic.
Until I informed them that any communication would have to be made to my newly appointed loss adjuster.
Took less than a week and it was all sorted,they took care of everything including paperwork and phone calls.
They take a cut / commission but we received a bigger payout than if we had sorted it ourselves.

Good luck

[Casper]

Hi Chet

Really sorry to hear that things are not progressing on your home. Cant begin to imagine the frustration and hassle you guys are going through. As others have suggested I would consider appointing your own adjusters. When my in-laws had a fire in their restaurant they used their own loss adjusters and things seemed to move a lot quicker.

Really hope things get sorted.

Ara