Insurance claim advice

[wendyd]

Hello, After having a flood, a loss adjuster came to our house. The water has damaged our downstairs hall laminate flooring which is laid throughout our hall and into our lounge which has no threshold bars at the door.

 

As the flooring is through and through i assumed that the whole lot would be replaced but he has advised that the insurer will only pay for the hall floor and they will put a threshold bar in place at the door.

 

Is this the norm ?

 

The floor was laid by a joiner and i didnt want a bar between the door as it was the same flooring.

 

The floor was done around 4 years ago and the shop that supplied it no longer stocks it.

 

Thankyou

[martin2006]

The norm is the insurers will want to minimise the cost of the claim. I dont think you could justify replacing a whole room's worth of flooring just because you didnt want a threshold strip when it was fitted.

 

I dont think what they are suggesting is unreasonable. Would i be happy if it were my house? Probably not if what i originally wanted was for the floor to be seamless from room to room, but as insurers, they will only repair/replace the affected area within that room. that room being the hallway.

 

Look at it in a different way, lets say someone pranged your front wing on your car, would you expect the whole car resprayed?

[CrappoMan]

...Look at it in a different way, lets say someone pranged your front wing on your car, would you expect the whole car resprayed?

 

Absolutely yes, if that was the only way to get a seamless match between the paint on the original and repaired/replaced pieces.

 

The insurers should put you back into the position you were before the incident happened.

Why should you be left with a substandard product after the insurers have 'minimized their costs'

[Mwynci]

yep,

 

no door bars, it is one continuous floor, that's the rule of thumb with claims for flooring.

 

They cannot dictate that a threashold bar goes in, it's not their house. Their not indemnifying the floor being damaged.

 

Don't let them push you into this, make a complaint. Complain to the underwriters (it'll be in your policy booklet), not the loss adjusters.

[unclebulgaria67]

Agree. Insurers normally view this in the same way as a continuous piece of carpet that runs right between rooms with no cut or join between.

 

You need to speak to the Insurers about this and if you can email a claims handler photos, so they can see that it one continous run of flooring, they should intervene on your behalf.

[wendyd]

Thank you for all the advice.

 

I'll give it a try and see what happens.

 

Thank you

[wendyd]

Update: Called the insurer and the claims handler on the phone agreed with me that it should be covered but as the claim was the adjusters job/case, then it would be up to him.........just got an email from the adjuster and hes firmly standing by his decision as the policy covers damaged area only and not any undamaged matching areas.

 

He has made a cash offer but even that doesnt cover the full cost of repairs.

 

w

[Guest roaringmouse]

Reject their offer. Put it in writing by letter (not email) and send by recorded delivery. Tell them that you are entitled to have your flooring put right so that you are in the same position you were before the flood.

 

If you have a colour of flooring that cannot be accurately matched by replacing back to a certain strip (say 3 rows into your lounge, without being noticebly different colour) then you are entitled to the entire section being replaced.

 

In the example given above of a car wing, you would not except them replacing part of the wing! It is a single piece of flooring and you are entitled to claim for it to be restored to look the same.

[unclebulgaria67]

Update: Called the insurer and the claims handler on the phone agreed with me that it should be covered but as the claim was the adjusters job/case, then it would be up to him.........just got an email from the adjuster and hes firmly standing by his decision as the policy covers damaged area only and not any undamaged matching areas.

 

He has made a cash offer but even that doesnt cover the full cost of repairs.

 

w

 

Raise an urgent complaint with your Insurers claims department. IF the flooring is one continuous run and repairing the damaged area only with wood that does not match the rest would leave it looking different, then this is not correct.

 

However, if the loss adjuster thinks a repair can be done to the damaged area only that is an exact match to the rest of the flooring, then let them prove this. If the work is done and it does not match the rest of the flooring you can then complain and your Insurers should be liable for cost of work until the flooring it back to condition it was before the claim event.

[wendyd]

unclebulgaria67 thankyou for your reply.

[wendyd]

Not really an update as nothing much has changed.

 

Emailed insurers - they said the complaint/decision is with the Loss adjusters and they forwarded the email to them.

 

So I pay premiums with the Insurer, have a contract with them and they don't have a say on our claim ?

 

 

1 week later got a letter from them stating the standard 8 week time limit to investigate the claim.

 

I know they will most likely wait till the last week and their decision will still be the same, so know that I will probably end up going to the Ombudsman and not backing down. They can make the decision and if they dont agree with me then that's fair enough.

 

As the claim was passed and they had initially made a cash settlement offer, we have started the repairs anyway as there was no way we could wait on them making the decision on the flooring.

Edited October 14, 2016 by wendyd