Hi, me and my family recently had a house fire which destroyed our kitchen, and much of the rest of the house has a fair bit of smoke damage. We are now in accommodation for 6 months whilst the house is being repaired/refurbished.

We have our contents insurance with L&G who have appointed Merlin Claims to deal with our case. We have had quite a lot of problems from the start, so perhaps I should have seeked advice earlier, but it was a very stressful time as we were homeless and frantically searching for somewhere to leave, which was very time consuming and frustrating.

The first problem was the initial payment of 2000 GBP which was an emergency payment to help us back on our feet, and to buy clothes, food etc. We never received the money for 8/9 days and was left to beg and borrow, despite being told that it would be given to us within 2 days, despite many phone calls (and a large mobile phone bill) we were just being fobbed off with "it takes so many days to transfer" etc and called liars by Loss Adjustor!! We finally got it but had to pay nearly half of it back to friends and family who had lent us money, and with it being 3 weeks before we had anywhere to live the cost of eating out for 5 of us and clothing (especially new school uniforms for the 3 Children, after we had already bought them at home), the money was soon gone.

We never went to stay in a hotel as the only one that was offered to us was above a pub, in a not very good area, I didn't think a noisy Pub was a good place to live with 3 young children so we just stayed with family (though it was cramped as it meant 10 people in a small house. We asked if we could claim any money for the family member who's house we stayed (to cover costs of electric, gas etc) at but they said no, and we should pay out of the 2000 already given, which was virtually gone by then!! Yet if we had taken the hotel option with 2 rooms needed, this would have been a lot of money!! (perhaps this is why they were so slow in finding us accomodation, with hindsight we should have took the hotel??)

So anyway we are finally in a house now ( which we found ourselves, and also nearly lost due to more cock ups) and they have given us a furniture starting pack, which is fine and we are happy with. We also have a TV which I had to fight tooth and nail to get them to allow us, however the house is very empty and our actual home is still sat as it was with no work being done and us unable to take anything from the house. There was a hold up with Asbestos, so delay is probably understandable but it's frustrating as all our furniture is still there, either burnt or smoke damaged and we have to live without it or anything classed as non essential for 6 months, also we have to pay council tax on both properties until the furniture is out of the house!! I have no conputer, phone line, internet etc here and Virign Media who I am with at the damaged property want us to pay to reconnect when i move back in, and also pay to have it installed at our tempoary home if i want it here, and thats before buying a new computer. Other stuff like a microwave and extra TV's for the bedrooms we have been told to pay ourselves for if we want them, which we cant afford, and also if we did we would then have too many when we move back in!!

I know it might sound like a bit of a moan, but I just want to know if we are supposed to be entitled to any of this stuff on a temporary basis etc, the children have hardly any toys as they are all at "home" and it's getting increasingly difficult to appease them as their computer consoles and computers, toys and other things are out of bounds for 6 months it would seem.

Also one last thing. We are covered new for old, however they seem to be happier to repair/replace a lot of stuff, even things like electrical goods that appear unaffected like the TV's but must have a lot of smoke damage, also furnitre like the sofa, beds and mattresses they want to clean, however i've been told they should not do this with mattresses and beds as its hard to get the smell out, The fridge/freezer is burnt and melted at the top however they are insisting they are going to restore it. (do I have any say in wether I feel it should be replaced, or is it firmly up to them?

There are many other things i'd like advice on because it doesnt feel right, however my mind is spinning circles at the moment and am on someone elses laptop (obvioulsy) and have to hurry.

Any advice or opinions would be very helpful, should I get my own loss assessor?

Thanks

Mike

I think you need to phone L&G and ask to speak to a claims manager. Just run through all of this and tell them that you feel like going to the press and your local MP. Do it in a personal polite manner and challenge them to make the situation right for yourself and family. As far as I am aware the Insurers must meet all the reasonable costs, you have mentioned.

Sometimes what happens is that Insurance companies will delegate claims to loss adjusters and merlin etc. The Insurance company then do not always get involved and simply do not address these issues. This is why you need to speak to an L&G manager and ask them to sort this out. It is L&G that will have the control of the purse strings.

Sorry to hear about the fire, hope nobody was hurt.

regarding the payments, their delays are out of order, they need to do this ASAP.

You are probably not covered for reconnection etc, the council tax you should be able to claim from the council for an unoocupied property. If not covered ask for a contribution as a good will gesture, you can only try.

In needing more stuff for your house toys etc, there's no reason why the adjuster can't offer part of the settlement yet.

With the cleaning, allow them to try this, the policy will state they have the right to a choose to repair or replace, but make yourself very clear to them about your concerns.

Most (I know Merlin do) adjusters have customer relations teams, ususally these are not used as the adjusters don't want to admit defeat (been there, you tend to take it personal), involve them if you are unhappy.

Hi thanks for the replies and advice, I know it's a while ago, but having no internet it's been difficult to get back on here!!

I am looking into complaining so will speak to L&G first, then if that gets me nowhere, I think I will just have to get my own loss assessor involved. My wife spoke to Merlin today and the loss adjustor was his usual smug and rude self, so after a few weeks of being able to forget about it and calm down a bit, the anger has resurfaced again.

They have since taken all the electrical items from our house, some stuff was asked to be put on an "emergency list" for us to get back quicker, which I believe we are receiving a few items tomorrow, although the Playstation 3 which we are due to be getting back will be without the controllers as they deemed the PS3 restorable but not the controllers, which is nonsense. Apparently it's cheaper to replace them than clean, so we have to but new ones if we want to use, and they are not cheap. Also another thing confusing me is that they have written off my HDD Camcorder, which i'm sure probably hasn't anything wrong with it, due to where it was situated, but they are now saying that I have to pay if I want the videos of my children and other stuff to be saved. Is this right or the normal practice? Also,he seemed to be getting funny when my wife asked about the pricing for items, we told him we compared prices using Argos as a guide, then he was saying they needed proof with receipts etc, what receipts we did have were all kept in the drawers in the kitchen, but I get the impression that this lot are going to try their best to screw us over. Do you guys think I should get my own Loss Assessor, even this late in the claim??

There is nothing to stop you getting your own assesor in, they usually charge a percentage of the final cost, this you wil not be able to recover from your insurer. Some are good and some are bad, sorry I can't suggest who you use.

Re the camcorder, ask them for it back, they may say it has a salvage value, if this is the case get them to prove it, it is yours until you accept settlement for it. Re the pricing for items, they will base this upon the figures they can get it for from their own suppliers, you can either get a replacement or the cash equivalent of the supplier amount, sometimes there is a large discount.

My advice is just keep making noise, if you don't like the adjuster, tell the insurer's you would like another (from the same company) to deal, or make noise internally with Merlin and document every move, this is your house and your possessions after all, I think sometimes insurers and loss adjusters forget that.

Hi

I have 42 years experience of dealing with insurance claims as both a traditional loss adjuster acting at the instruction of insurers and for the last 15 years on behalf of policyholders.

What you are experiencing is unfortunately typical of what happens these days with household claims as a result of reductions in experience and knowledge of how to deal with matters properly on the part of insurers. We recently had an article published in a magazine dealing with how insurers control the claim (inadequately) and how this can be dealt with by the good assessors referred to by another contributor. As a result of the article several policyholders who could see that we were telling the truth contacted us and we have helped them/are helping them regain control of their claim and indeed their lives.

I would like to send you a copy of the article but this forum is not the correct forum for that and I guess I am not allowed to advertise the name of our company. We do actually take on difficult claims which other assessors would not get involved in and have a track record of success in this area. I will check the forum rules again and see how we might get in touch as I would like to help you.

It is unfortunate that as a result of a number of practices currently being operated by your insurers that I usually prefix their name with "Il......." They are notorioulsy difficult to deal with sensibly.

Unfortunately what you are experiencing and what I fear is still to come is impossible to deal with here. I genuinely feel that you need help from ourselves or other assessors.

I agree Geoff - it's very sad to see how many claims departments are seeking to reduce their costs not through good practice but instead by taking advantage of the customer's lack of knowledge and experience of this area. Many of the things you have mentioned, mjgrays, is completely out of order, and probably in breach of the policy you have taken up.

Do you have a link to the policy wording for your insurance?