Advice re. managing loss adjustors for building insurance please

[jama69]

I have read previous posts extensively and really learned a lot so far. I think our situation is slightly different to some. We had an escape of water last summer which caused extensive damage. The loss adjuster instructed their preferred building company to quote for strip-out and repairs. Our experience of this company was awful, prompting us to instruct our own surveyor. This was helpful and we were re-housed by our insurer in a nice place. The Loss Adjustor’s own surveyor has completed the schedule of works and has done a good job addressing pretty much everything we wanted. SoW has just gone out to tender.

 

We want a local builder to do the repairs, not their preferred builders who botched things before. We have more confidence in a local builder who has personal references and a reputation to protect.

 

Any advice on how to get our own builder? The insurance is paying large monthly rents, so presume lead-in and completion times will be large factors. We simply want a decent job done. I have read advice about lawyers and others about taking it gently and calmly. It is very difficult to judge as the next week or two now suddenly seems to be crucial.

 

Thanks

[LaurynM]

I have read previous posts extensively and really learned a lot so far. I think our situation is slightly different to some. We had an escape of water last summer which caused extensive damage. The loss adjuster instructed their preferred building company to quote for strip-out and repairs. Our experience of this company was awful, prompting us to instruct our own surveyor. This was helpful and we were re-housed by our insurer in a nice place. The Loss Adjustor’s own surveyor has completed the schedule of works and has done a good job addressing pretty much everything we wanted. SoW has just gone out to tender.

 

We want a local builder to do the repairs, not their preferred builders who botched things before. We have more confidence in a local builder who has personal references and a reputation to protect.

 

Any advice on how to get our own builder? The insurance is paying large monthly rents, so presume lead-in and completion times will be large factors. We simply want a decent job done. I have read advice about lawyers and others about taking it gently and calmly. It is very difficult to judge as the next week or two now suddenly seems to be crucial.

 

Thanks

 

I was an Incident Manager in a well known Loss Adjusters for a year and a half and managed the claims from start to finish on behalf of the insurance company. We always sent one of our contractors in the area to assess the damage and send a scope of work in to us to review, however a lot of policyholders wanted to appoint their own contractor which was fine. We always requested 2 independent evaluations and could then liaise with the preferred contractor direct, however it was also possible in some cases to offer a straightforward cash settlement based on our contractors SOW. My job also included skimming down any unnecessary hours for labour or work which I didn't think was required before the go ahead was given, so the cash settlement would be based on this, and would always be less than what they had quoted for. Saying that, our contractors had pre-approved rates which were ridiculous so even giving a lesser settlement usually left some cash free for the policyholder once their paid their own contractor which I was more than happy with.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Lauryn

[raydetinu]

once you have quotes for the work submit these to the insurance co. and they will either say ok and accept or may ask for cladification on certain points or elements.

Once you have the go ahead for the agreed sum the insurance co will either pay builder direct or in most cases pay you and then you pay the builder on completion and you are happy with what they have done.

Always keep some money back after completion for latent defects; say 2-3%. for three months minimum.

there can be a descrepancy sometimes when the prices you get are above the estimate the ins co. adjuster provided, but you can usualy negotiate around that.

If the worst comes to the worst your own surveyor or loss assessor may have to become involved to reach an agreement.

good luck and hope you get a trouble free job.

[jama69]

Thank you for your replies, which seem positive. Unfortunately, I just spoke to the local builders who said that the due diligence requirements that the loss adjustors demand before they can quote are impossible for them to complete in the time, and therefore our 2 preferred local builders will not be able to quote. I understand from one of them that is is normal practice, to keep an open competition a closed shop. Only one of the LA's companies has contacted me to see the job, with the time fast running out, so I guess there may only be one company submitting a quote in the end.

 

It feels rather cynical and controlling by the LAs to ask for so much from our preferred companies, and not from their own. Fine if it were about the quality of our builder's work, fine too, perhaps, if we were able to assess the quality of their builders' work. I think we might need to take some legal advice as the contract the LA sent to us seems to put us as the employers and I'm worried about that too, from what I have read here, esp as we don't seem to get a say in any of this selection process...

[LaurynM]

Have you asked them for a cash settlement based on their contractors quote? This will cost the insurance company less in the long run and when I worked in a Loss Adjusters we were always happy to do this as it was less hassle and the settlement would be less than the contractors quote. I would push for this, it will still be enough to cover a local contractors work because their rates are much less than then insurance's/LA's.