Non Payment for storm damage.

[swiftflo]

Two weeks ago we had a retaining wall at the bottom of the drive collapse. This wall was standing at the end of March, then with all the rain we had in April we noticed the wall starting to leen over and then as I said two weeks ago the wall went over.

 

On Tuesday of this week we had a visit from an assessor sent by Churchill. After inspecting the wall and other damage it had caused she said Churchill were not resposible for payment as it was not covered by our policy. Yet the policy say's we are covered for storm damage, land slip, land heave and subsidence.

 

I have attached the letter the assessor left me.

 

Where should I go from here.

Edited May 24, 2012 by MARTIN3030
Removing personal details

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I've had to remove your attatchment. although the scan is very small and goes blurred when I enlarge it, I can see that there is a name and address in it [yours?] and possibly other personal details. We never recommend putting up personal information.

 

Please would you edit the doc and then put it back up.

Edited May 24, 2012 by MARTIN3030

[unclebulgaria67]

Can't read the letter as too small. But I think the assessor is correct. If the garden retaining wall, was is good condition, it should have withstood, some flood or storm damage. Unless there were winds above 55mph, with/without precipitation, Insurers are unlikely to view this as storm damage.

 

In this situation, as you are clearly unhappy about this, you should put a complaint in writing to the Insurers claims manager, asking for an explanation in writing from them.

 

What material is the wall made from ?

[swiftflo]

Assessor Report.pdfNon Payment for storm damage.

 

 

Two weeks ago we had a retaining wall at the bottom of the drive collapse. This wall was standing at the end of March, then with all the rain we had in April we noticed the wall starting to leen over and then as I said two weeks ago the wall went over.

 

On Tuesday of this week we had a visit from an assessor sent by Churchill. After inspecting the wall and other damage it had caused she said Churchill were not resposible for payment as it was not covered by our policy. Yet the policy say's we are covered for storm damage, land slip, land heave and subsidence.

 

I have attached the letter the assessor left me.

 

Where should I go from here.

[swiftflo]

I have now submitted a new copy of the letter. The wall is a brick/block retaining wall.

 

By the way the assessor spoke if the wall had been hit with say a car then the insurers would have paid up, but because the storm damage (wet April) happened over a period then we were not covered.

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes it will be considered damage that has occurred gradually and not by a one off event. So would be considered a maintenance issue, not something you can claim for. A brick/block wall should have been ok, unless there was a significant amount of storm water against it in one go.

 

You are correct about impact by vehicles. If the wall was next to a road or driveway and you could point to an unknown vehicle hitting it, you would have been covered.

[dacouc]

Most Insurers exclude storm damage to garden walls and fences, some with this exclusion will however cover storm damage to walls if the home is damaged at the same time

[Mwynci]

A lot will depend on the age, build quality, etc for this to succeed. In the main a wall should not collapse if built correctly. Most insurers don't look beyond wind for storms, whereas water build up as UB67 states can be a factor, and this can be considered as storm, but again this would need to be a one off event, not rain over a month. Potentially this could also be flood, which can be caused by a gradual build up over a prolonged period.

[swiftflo]

As near as we can assertain the wall would have been built at the time our home was built, that being 1967. I would think regarding quality of build this would be checked by the building inspector during construction.

 

As I have said at the end of March the wall was standing but during the month of April it could be seen to be going over until 2 weeks ago it went over during the night. Should add there was no way anything cound be done to prop it up as on the side away from out propery there is a thick hawthorn hedge, so this makes it impossible to reach from that side.