Hello everyone, this is my first post to the forum, did everyone have a good Christmas?

A house fire in October 2007 completely destroyed our kitchen, causing heavy smoke damage to our lounge and dining room, we're very lucky to be alive and both being disabled were fortunate enough to have neighbours who literally carried us out of the house. Although insured by a firm called Cunningham & Lindsey, their brochures are in the Nat West bank, we thought our nightmare was over, what fools we were!!

We were finally allowed back in our home 3 weeks later and an assessor from Cunningham & Lindsey declared everything would be replaced, including smoke damaged furniture etc, and professionally cleaned otherwise. My mother, a disabled pensioner, has had to contact C & L on a daily basis for 2 months, they have lost quotes so ask for others, they say they'll do one thing but do another, then they give my mother the run-around. To date we have received a replacement cooker, fridge-freezer and washing machine and various things were collected for cleaning. But now they say they can do nothing more. The original assessor's assessment of what needed replacing has been torn up and my mother is expected to be thankful for a £800 cheque and some Argos vouchers, apparently the food in the fridge-freezer destroyed by fire is covered by the Argos vouchers.

She's bewildered and so am i!!.

Apart from the memories and items that cannot be replaced, she's expected to refurnish the downstairs of her home with only a partial payment from her insurers, nothing like the agreement she signed up for. She was told by Cunningham & Lindsey to replace a glass chandelier i bought, almost £400, with one from Woolworths....and to stop wittering as she didn't have long on this earth left anyway.

Three months after the fire we're still occupying only the upstairs of the house, downstairs being unliveable-in. I cannot believe that in the year 2007 an insurance company is allowing a disabled pensioner and disabled son to live like this. I've tried emailing C & L but they do not reply. I've phoned but they say they've never heard of us OR we're conveniently disconnected. I'm disabled myself, totally bed-ridden, i've tried to sort things out myself but are running out of ideas. Can anyone advise us please....we're pretty desperate now, we feel utterly alone and abandoned.

Dave

The financial ombudsman Service will deal with insurance claim problems and there is a telephone number on their website

Also I will do a quick check on the insurance company to see if they are members of any insurance affiliations. Why was the assessors report torn up?

first of all if it was an independant assesor I would contact them and ask for a copy urgently as this may be the basis for any claim.

Also dont ring the insurance company any more do it all in writing and set out all your concerns/ confusion and ask for a full explanation of the terms of the claim in writing ( so you can use it for any complaint against them)

jan

Bit confused

cunningham and lindsey appear to be loss adjusters insurance managers rather than the actual insurers? do you still have a copy of your insurance policy? It should be clearer on their who the actual insurers are and which group they belong to.

Jan

By the way dont feel abandoned - you will get lots of help here - we are particularly fond of writing letters demanding action!.

You may not have new for old cover - but you should at least be in a habitable position - in other words no worse of than you were before the fire.

Jan:)

Jansus you're a star!! I had little hope anybody would reply to my post because nobody wanted to know up until now. I read what you wrote and decided another big 'push' was needed before our insurance company walked all over us again.

I managed to get an appointment for my mother with her bank, the Nat West...who were still pushing this insurance company on to it's customers, and thank God i did, as far as the insurance company were concerned the claim was closed and we were happy. The bank manager did all the talking over the phone because the insurance company refused all contact with my mother, there were numerous apologies, a few promises but it was my pensioner mother's fault because she failed to contact them 3 times a day...( you want to see our phone bill, we should have had our insurance company on BT's Friends & Families option )....and as of today we're better informed and see some light at the end of the tunnel.

After some negotiation it seems our original cheque for only £800 to cover everything will be quadrupled, the Argos vouchers they admit were to shut my mother up but their total will be increased to reflect the cost of replacing kitchen equipment etc. And redecoration costs are now included including carpets and soft furnishings. My mother should receive what she was entitled to, not the miserly offer they thought she'd be happy with.

Still, the bank manager made the insurers promise they'd telephone my mother that afternoon to finalise things, we're still waiting for the call unfortunately. A proper apology from the company would have been nice but it would mean nothing now, not when you've been called all the names under the sun and treated as we have been.

So fingers crossed this stage is over now and maybe the memories of the house-fire can slowly disappear. But you inspired me Jansus and i thank you for that. Without you we'd have given up!!

Thanks for everything

Dave

They sound like a disgraceful outfit.

Make sure you take your business elsewhere in future.

Hi again

so pleased you seem to be getting a result. keep pushing if you dont get confirmation in writing soon. Quite right that the bank should support you if they are promoting the company. unfortunately most insurance companies will try and keep payouts low (to increase profits) so you do have to push. If you dont get the monies soon use the bank support or come back on here. I would be pleased to help you with a letter of complaint .I am an ex insurance employee.

best wishes and hope your life is back to normal soon

jan

Again, thankyou everyone for taking the time to post a reply. I've posted a couple of queries on the forums thanks to positive feed back regarding this problem. I've finally realised i have a voice and i shouldn't allow people to walk all over me!!

Jansus: We're going to be in contact with the Nat West, who were pushing this firm of insurers on their customers, as the cleaning company employed by them phoned to say our tv blew up, along with a hi fi, dvd & video player and Sky digi box- while they were being cleaned. I'm sure our insurers will be pleased to know those items will now need replacing...LOL

I can just imagine the look on their faces!!

And thankyou for the offer of a letter of complaint. If we get that far down the line, i'll take you up on the offer. But you've been so kind up to now i feel pretty indebted. I can only offer you our thanks.

Dave

No problem - I just hope everything gets sorted in the end - if not, here if you need me

jan

I'm going through a lot worse with HSBC and my dispute is now going to Court as HSBC are not complying with the FOS adjudication.

However, as you have suffered a fire claim, you should be entitled to rent a property similar to yours whilst your place is being refurbised. The cost of rent etc. will be covered under the buildings policy.

Check this out and claim for what is rightfully yours.

At last the nightmare is over!!

A settlement has been agreed and the cheque has arrived, but it's taken the best part of 6 months. Our bank manager finally sorted things out though Cunningham & Lindsey (our insurers) even had the nerve to lie to our bank manager several times, they weren't even ashamed of the lying and deceit saying it's part and parcel of the job.

Well if lying and deliberate deceit are now openly part of the insurance industry, and they're admitting to it, the consumer will always lose out.

A big thankyou to everyone who posted their thoughts....without your encouragement and insight we'd have been walked all over by our insurers.

Hello again

I am so pleased for you a result at last. It just shows that perseverence and "the little man" can win through in the end.

Well done and hopefuly you can now pass on your wisdom to others.:grin:

Best wishes

Jan:)