Help with risk adjuster

[mathmagician]

Hi folks, we had a break in three weeks ago which resulted in the loss of an awful lot of gear. We put a claim in to the insurers and the loss assessor came out the following week. He seemed happy with what had been stolen but we are also claiming on the buildings side of things because the front door is irreparable.

 

Now houses on my street go for around 100k. I read somewhere that land accounts for approximately one third of your property value. I was in a rush so I rounded the rebuild cost to 60k. Before you say it, I realise that was too low and I hold my hands up to it. However the risk adjuster is saying I am woefully under insured and is recommending that I raise my buildings cover to around 184k.

 

This has two nasty implications, firstly my premium (which is due to rise due to the claim) will go up a lot due to the increase in buildings cover. Secondly the insurance company are going to claim I am 67 percent under insured and reduce my claim accordingly.

 

Can the rebuild really be close to twice the market value. Granted it's stone but still.....

[gyzmo]

If it costs a lot to rebuild, it can do.

 

At least you have differentiated the rebuild and market value - something many are unable to grasp.

 

If you take my property for example, it's market value is somewhere about the price of a second hand dog kennel. To rebuild it would probably be a lot more than what it's actually worth

 

If you want to be absolutely sure, you could get your own assessor in. If you are underinsured then any payment in the event of a claim is reduced accordingly, which can be very costly.

Edited August 15, 2009 by gyzmo
The word monster has been on a kleptomaniac spree again

[mathmagician]

Thanks, I guess that hadn't crossed my mind. It just seems so overinflated. I have both my buildings and contents insured with the same company, will they reduce the contents claim as well? (the assessor seemed happy with the contents insured).

[patrickq1]

Hi folks, we had a break in three weeks ago which resulted in the loss of an awful lot of gear. We put a claim in to the insurers and the loss assessor came out the following week. He seemed happy with what had been stolen but we are also claiming on the buildings side of things because the front door is irreparable.

 

Now houses on my street go for around 100k. I read somewhere that land accounts for approximately one third of your property value. I was in a rush so I rounded the rebuild cost to 60k. Before you say it, I realise that was too low and I hold my hands up to it. However the risk adjuster is saying I am woefully under insured and is recommending that I raise my buildings cover to around 184k.

 

This has two nasty implications, firstly my premium (which is due to rise due to the claim) will go up a lot due to the increase in buildings cover. Secondly the insurance company are going to claim I am 67 percent under insured and reduce my claim accordingly.

 

Can the rebuild really be close to twice the market value. Granted it's stone but still.....

 

you can also now seek help with your claim by getting your own risk assesor and have the old claim annuled ,due to lack of knowledge with regards to the true costs etc..

[mathmagician]

It's still worth us claiming as long as they don't reduce the contents part of the claim. Should I get a couple of quotes from builders or would I be wasting my time?

[vusys1]

doesnt your policy carry a standard minimum buildings sum insured? dont see many that require a sum insured unless they class it as a non standard property.

[mathmagician]

Unfortunately not. If I recall correctly I just typed in a figure into a price comparison site and that was then the figure on the policy.

[Wulfyn]

What is the name of the insurance product that you have bought (will be on the polc dcumentaton / guide)?

[gyzmo]

Contents insurance is separate from buildings insurance so one should not affect the other. A "combined" policy of buildings and contents is simply a marketing method of discount, nothing more.

 

You could ask a builder for an estimate - it will obviously cost, but you need to make sure you are properly insured and it will, if nothing else, give peace of mind. Make sure you use a reputable firm

[mathmagician]

Thanks folks, I will tap our circle of friends (all tradesmen) and see if one of them can give me a vague idea, then if the valuation is way off I will pay for a full estimate to go back to the insurers with.

 

As regards the type of product I have bought, I couldn't tell you because I am abroad at the minute.

[Wulfyn]

Contents insurance is separate from buildings insurance so one should not affect the other. A "combined" policy of buildings and contents is simply a marketing method of discount, nothing more.

 

This is not strictly true. They are different sections to a household policy, but may not be a different policy.

[gyzmo]

? They are different classes of insurance. They may be added together in the same policy book purely for ease, but there is no good reason I can think of why a buildings claim should affect contents insurance.

[mathmagician]

Has anyone ever had any success talking a claim up on here?

[mathmagician]

Well, as expected the claim for the damage to the house was reduced by 67% leaving me £600 out of pocket on that front.

 

However, as I hadn't paid for business insurance (because I naively thought that meant you ran a business) they aren't replacing one of the laptops because I said I'd occasionally do some of my school work on it. Another £300 odd out of pocket. Frustrating is a bit of an understatement here.

[patrickq1]

why have you not employed the use of your own loss adjuster who are skilled in this feild,they will put forward your claim and i beleive they will put their charges to the insurance co as well.. just a thought ?

patrickq1

[mathmagician]

It had crossed my mind, however it was my understanding they take a percentage of the payout. The most I expect to hope for is talk them up by a couple of hundred quid. From looking around insurance companies don't give much ground on being underinsured, so any loss assessor's fees would eat that up?

[Yorkyclaims]

That is correct. I dont think there is much you can do with regards to the Buildings side - however, I am suprised that the laptop is being denied. Do you have the wording of the policy with regards to computer equipment, and the relevant exclusions??? There are a fair few insurers who cover this....

[mathmagician]

On the insurance policy it states "Business items: none insured"

Then in the policy booklet I have found the definition of business items to be "electrical equipment such as personal computers, fax machines ... owned by the insured or their family used for business or professional use"

 

This isn't the exact wording of course but it is fairly close.

[mathmagician]

Intersting update. Rang the broker to increase buildings cover and purchase business cover for my desktop and mobile phone etc. They took my money over the phone, all fine and dandy.

Reviced the new policy through from the insurer today and it states:

"Business items: none insured"

 

I rang the broker to querry this and they said all those items would be covered as part of your general risk. We have added them as named possessions outside the home (desktop.... I mean really!). I said I had had part of my claim rejected due to my laptop being classified as business use. They quickly rang insurer who still stands by this. What is more, the insurer doesn't even offer business insurance. What a shower, I feel really really let down.

[mathmagician]

Further update:

First complaint going into broker regarding poor advice and insufficient training of their staff to differentiate between items used for business and insuring home for business use.

Second complaint going in against insurer for trying to reduce their liability regarding theft. The argument being that regardless of the rebuild cost of your house, a break in is only ever going to cost a replacement door or window, whether it's a million pound mansion or a terraced house.

 

Ho hum, we shall see.

Edited September 13, 2009 by mathmagician
typing gremlins

[LemonTwist]

Second complaint going in against insurer for trying to reduce their liability regarding theft. The argument being that regardless of the rebuild cost of your house, a break in is only ever going to cost a replacement door or window, whether it's a million pound mansion or a terraced house.

 

I think the insurers have acted correctly in accordance with the principle of indemnity. The sum insured is what is used to calculate the premium. Underinsurance occurs when the sum insured is too low and this inevitably results in too low a premium being charged. If all the other policyholders have paid a premium based on the full value of their property, then it is not equitable to accept risks that are based on less than this. Therefore, if there is underinsurance at the time of a claim, the settlement will be reduced in proportion to the amount of underinsurance. There must be some clause about this in your policy. It is known as the "Average" clause, although it might be under Under-insurance.

 

I don't think the cause of the claim (eg whether it is fire or theft etc) is relevant here, as the fact still remains that the premium paid was too low - so I think the clause will be applied regardless of this. If you want confirmation of this, it's probably best to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

[mathmagician]

Already a step ahead on that one

[mathmagician]

Update, broker has offered £250 in compensation, although it wasn't clear what for. I am waiting to receive that offer in writing. The FOS said to ring them once I received the offer to check it won't affect the complaint against the insurer.

Interestingly when I spoke to the person handling my complaint (senior person), she asked what the purchase price was (80k) and what the insurers wanted as a rebuild figure (184k) and she said, why on earth is it that much. Very well informed outfit....

Edited January 30, 2010 by mathmagician
typing gnomes

[patrickq1]

is this there risk adjuster if so you will find it is final offer ,

you are entitled to go to the FOS but they aint much cop...you could write back and tell them you accept but only as part pament you also need to remind them that you are now considering the appointment of an independant loss adjuster and the costs will be bourne by them especially if they are considering that the offer is full and final payment also remind them you have decided to forward a full complaint to the FOS unsell they meet your demands or come close...

patrickq1

ps. do not for one minit trust ant risk adjuster they are on a par with bank managers in the trust department

[mathmagician]

Couldn't agree more. Loss adjuster is employed by the insurer, now even if they aren't commission based, it is in their interest to talk your claim down as far as possible to guarantee repeat custom from the insurance companies.

Complaint is already sat with fos, they have just received the file from my insurers. Still going to be weeks, ho hum.