At this stage I will not be going public with the insurers name. I was going to pay the surveyor direct but was told the insurer was paying his bill under the policy. As far as his report went, it covered some of the items and seemed to make sense. At that stage I really did not know much about subsidence. It’s been a learning curve. I did not want him involved with the work as I been told the problems would reoccur in the future as the repairs were insufficient. Actually I think it was him that said this. So I had decided that the loss adjuster firm should deal with the works that way there could be no come backs. Plus at that time I did not have money to bring on a surveyor full time. The surveyor appointed the contractor. A small amount of structural work was done the rest was just a cover up job. Not even done to a reasonable standard. The contract has spanned a fair while. I hope this helps.

At this stage I will not be going public with the insurers name. I was going to pay the surveyor direct but was told the insurer was paying his bill under the policy. As far as his report went, it covered some of the items and seemed to make sense. At that stage I really did not know much about subsidence. It’s been a learning curve. I did not want him involved with the work as I been told the problems would reoccur in the future as the repairs were insufficient. Actually I think it was him that said this. So I had decided that the loss adjuster firm should deal with the works that way there could be no come backs. Plus at that time I did not have money to bring on a surveyor full time. The surveyor appointed the contractor. A small amount of structural work was done the rest was just a cover up job. Not even done to a reasonable standard. The contract has spanned a fair while. I hope this helps.

Get an assessor on board as quick as possible they talk there language. I didn’t and it cost me dearly I only got 1/4 of what was owed under the policy

Thank you for your time, yes I believe I need an assessor. Finding one that would take this mess on maybe hard, but it has to be done. The original report speaks volumes. I never agreed any changes in fact I am still arguing the changes made. They have completely ignored me. The house was left in a mess and unfinished, the insurers paid the contractors and the surveyors. .

Hi thank you for your response. I first notified the insurers, but when they started saying things were historic it was clear I needed expert help. I asked a surveyor to give his opinion on the house and his conclusion was subsidence this was approx' 1 year after the claim was made. I then forwarded his report to the insurers. Next thing I knew he was appointed by them. I informed both the insurers and the surveyor that I was not happy with his appointment and have done this throughout the claim yet they continued to work with him and even offered him other work in my company. Apart from his report this was the only instruction I ever gave him, he just injected himself into the claim and forwarded his invoices to the insurers. I have no contract with the surveyor in fact if he was in my employ I would have sacked his.

You maybe able to claim this £60.00 back on the policy contact the legal team dealing with the original accident.

Do you know what the £60.00 payment is for? If it was me I would write to them asking what the £60.00 payment relates to. I would also phone my bank and have the direct debit reversed under the guarantee until you receive an explanation. Then pay the £60.00 when you are happy with the explanation (only if owed). If you are not happy, raise a complaint with them in writing. But get legal advise as well from CAB. Good luck

Thank you, I will contact RICS for advice. The FOS and the insurers defence was he was my surveyor even though I had no contract with him. So I will present this to RICS and see what they say. I think it maybe a case of being a square peg tring to fit a round hole, but I will give it my best shot, fingers crossed. Thank you for your time

After looking at all your comments my conclusions re my case with the FOS seem founded. All financial institutes are happy for you to go to the FOS, leading me to believe they do not fear the FOS authority, which kind of leaves us without a voice when we are trying to resolve stressful situations that could have huge impact on our lives. Both the FOS and the financial institutes governed by them are playing tactical game with us. With my case it crossed my mind that the FOS worked for the financial institute. None of the evidence I presented was even considered. The financial institute gave a report and the FOS went with it to close the case. A complete waste of time.

Sorry to be a pain- With my surveyor I originally only appointed him to do a survey of the property. I did not go into a contract with him or appoint him to oversee the work- the insurers did that. Am I still able to report him for his part in this? Also, I have requested a copy of my policy many times from the insurers and the mortgage provider but it has never been forth coming. The FOS also requested it, I asked them to forward me a copy but they have not. I was never given an original copy when I took the insurance out. Where can I get a copy of the exact worded copy?

Thank you for your response, yes you are right I will do this part myself. In fact I will need to do a lot myself and save the big guns for the finish. Thank you, it is very easy to get caught up in issues and sometimes it helps to air things to get a better prospectus on things.

A sweepstake might not be a bad thing, take my mind off all of this unnecessary stress. But I think you could be right. The FOS was out of their depth on this one. It is a shame insurers can not be held accountable.

Thank you for your advice. All the comments have helped to point me in the right direction. I will bring a Loss Assessor on board and contact the mortgage lenders to put pressure on the insurers. As for my so called surveyor I think you are right he dose need to be reported for his part in this. Once I have the Assessors report I will contact my Solicitors to take action. Thank you to all for your advise. It is likley to be a long afair and I will try to keep you up to date with the out come. Thank you.

Yes there is a lot to the story. Firstly no one would quote on the job due to the budget placed by the insurers, and then when they did they had no alternative but to cut corners and go for a face lift of the property thinking this would get passed me as I was out at work during the day. I guess having a recession in the middle of this did not help. At one stage builders cost across the industry did rocket and the insurers were not will to accept these inflated prices. As it was it took 1 year for the FOS to come on board, I have to say I was gutted with the result and how little they could help.

When I went to the FOS I originally took the insurers thinking that they should be untimely responsible for the claim, but it looks as if both parties are (insurers and surveyor) and a ruling could not be made as the surveyor was working for me. Plus there are some large sums of money involved. My main concern has been the building as this is my main investment and selling is not an option until this is solved. I am trapped and have no alternative but to take this all the way, something I would prefer not to do. But I agree I have been tucked up.What is worst these are meant to be professional people? But one good thing is I have it all in writing and documented

Thank you i will contact my mortgage lender to see if they can intervene. At one stage they did write saying they would continue to insure the property, but then withdrew this two weeks later without explanation. Thank you for your advise.

Thank you for your response. The claim was for subsidence. At the beginning of the claim I instructed a surveyor who without my consent started to act for the insurers. He no longer acting for me independently and started to contradict his own original reports and conversations that caused lots of delays and confusion . He even reduced the schedule of work that was originally agreed. He did not attend the property during the repairs when requested too and attended after wall paper had been replaced. By his own admission there was not enough money to carry out the full repairs and we needed to compromise. I was not adverse to this; however I did expect the main structural repairs to be carried out. His account was settled by the insurers. I guess I need to engage a new surveyor to go through the work done to date. This is going to be expensive and difficult. The insurers will not cover the cost of a new surveyor. What about the insurance for the building can the underwriters refuse to insure the property after so many years? and are my mortgage providers responsible to find an underwriter that is prepared to insure the property? Thank you.

Buildings insurance problem. I have had my buildings insurance with my mortgage lender for over 20 years. Unfortunately some time ago I needed to make a claim. This has taken many years to rectify and the work was not completed correctly and I have been left with a building that still has problems with more cracks appearing. These were notified to insurers before they closed the claim. I went to the Ombudsman but it was agreed with them I would withdraw the case as there was not much they could do and this would leave me the option of going to court. The loss adjusters despite my request not to pay the contractor and surveyor have paid them despite the work not being completed as per the schedule of work. The insurers have now closed the file and refuse to insure me any further. What can I do? Who would be held accountable for this? I really have no idea what I should do next, has anyone any advise what the next step should be? How can I get insured and how do I get the work completed by the insurers? Help

Advice required Hi, I have been paying my credit card the minimum payment for the past few years due to other financial obligations (I know that it will cost me more) but needs must. On all my previous statements the debt has reduced just a little or remained the same- But just recently the debt has started in increase each month by approx £40.00. Dose anyone know why? I have not used the card and there are no purchases showing. The bank says it’s the interst rate but surely this is covered with the minimum payment that leaves my account by direct debit. How can I prevent the balance on this card increasing? What should I do? I thought my minimum payment keep it at the same balance?

Hi, I have been paying my credit card the minimum payment for the past few years due to other financial obligations (I know that it will cost me more) but needs must. On all my previous statements the debt has reduced just a little or remained the same- But just recently the debt has started in increase each month by approx £40.00. Dose anyone know why? I have not used the card and there are no purchases showing. The bank says it’s the interest rate but surely this is covered with the minimum payment that leaves my account by direct debit. How can I prevent the balance on this card increasing? What should I do? I thought my minimum payment keep it at the same balance?

I have had by HSBC currant account for over 20 years. Due to being ill I was unable to pay funds in, so I called them and made a verbal agreement with the HSBC that they would cover my direct debits for 1 week after which funds would be paid in. As agreed I transferred funds in = £1,000.00 and was given an authorisation number. Later the same day I was informed that all my direct debits had been permanently cancelled by the HSBC. A few days after this I was informed that there was no transfer made, it transpired some weeks later that they had not collected the £1,000.00 funds after it being authorised. When I received my statement I had been charged for all the returned direct debits despite the agreement being in place. They have continued to apply cancelation charges for DD, SO for several months even though they said all DD were permanently cancelled, plus I wrote to them telling then to cancel all DD, SO and payments leaving the account as I had set them up with another bank as per thier instructions to me. I decided to pay in £80.00 per month to clear my official over draft, as it was my intention of close the account once the OD was paid. In January they refused to allow me to pay money into the account and are now taking me to court. I refuse to pay their DD cancelation fees as we had a verbal agreement in place plus they cancelled them all. They have refused to see reason and have failed to try and come to a compromise re these charges, which now exceed £900.00. They have bombarded me with nuisance phone calls at least 20 per day and destroyed my credit rating. They should be done for false advertising- They are not the most helpful bank. They are just common con artists. Let me know your views any advise would be kindly appriciated. I will keep you posted with the outcome of the court case that I am defending.

I appreciate that each insurer has their own limits, but this should be made clear to the customer when purchasing the policy. Plus this should not affect the insurers confirming the other years they have not protected at the end of the policy; they should still count if each insurers allowance is different. Therefore be carried forward for your new insures to assess the protection to be given provided you have not lost them as a result of a claim. After all you have still accumulated them and should therefore not have them taken away at the whim of the insurers. The insurers may be allowed to choose how many years they will protect but surely they have no right to take them away unless you have made a claim. Customers clearly need to be protected here especially if it affects the amount you pay for your policy.

1. I am amazed there is no law to cover protected no claims bonus / discounts or a law that the insurers explain their policy / rules on this subject before you purchase insurance. I have built up over 10 years worth of “Protected No Claims Bonus”, I have also paid each year to protected my no claims, yet after leaving an insurance company I found that I now only have 6 years as their under writers will not cover any more despite the fact that I paid to have all 10 years covered with them. Why I was not information I would lose 4 years protected no claims when taking out the policy I do not know? Why is there not a law to protect me from this shameful practice? Personally I find the rules and laws on this totally inadequate. I paid to have them “PROTECTED” not reduced. Surely the policy has been miss-sold to me. If any other company acted in this way with its customers “miss leading them” they would be held accountable. Yet insurers get away with it time and time again. Why? By law I have to insure my car if used on the road, yet I am not protected by the same law from the sharks selling the polices. I can not be the only person that has experienced this? If the insurers only protect a certain numbers of years they should be obliged to also include the other year on your renewal document as previous proof i.e. I started with 10 years PNCB added 1 year PNCB left with 11 years, of which only 6 years were covered. This way the new insurers can clearly see the accurate number of years accumulated. They can then advise the customer what they are prepared to protect for the following year and at what cost. Let me know what you think?