Assessor's report

[Surfer01]

If I am making a claim for damage on a caravan can I request a copy of the assessors report? Thanks.

[Ethel Street]

Is this a loss assessor appointed and paid by your insurance company to produce a report for the insurance company? (Also known as a Loss Adjuster)

 

If so the report is private to insurers and you aren't entitled to a copy but if you ask they might give you one. If refused you could put in a data protection Subject Access Request [SAR] but the request would probably be refused on the basis that a report on your caravan is not personal data about you.

 

This what the professional body for loss adjusters says:

 

"The loss adjuster will usually send a report to the insurance company and policyholders often ask whether they are entitled to a copy of the report. Such reports are not usually made available. However, you may ask for guidance as to the view of the loss adjuster.  If you do not agree, you are entitled to ask for an explanation and, if necessary, the method by which you can challenge any decisions."

 

Advice for Policyholders (cila.co.uk)

[Surfer01]

Thanks.  It would be nice to see the assessors report as there is a dispute regarding the damage with dealer stating impact damage and myself claiming that is a manufacturer's defect. 

It is a crack on the ABS body panel of a caravan.  Internet is littered with people complaining about cracks of the ABS body panel of their caravan and this is across all brands of caravans.

I have put in an insurance claim as dealer is quoting in excess of £9300 for replacement of the front panel however as a back up I am also doing a CRA 2015 against finance house as 2018 caravan cost in excess of £30k and is just over 4 years old taking into account that due to Covid lockdown we were unable to use the caravan for about a year.

 

[Ethel Street]

As the amount of money involved is substantial is there an assessor or engineer you could appoint yourself to give you expert advice on the cause of damage?

[unclebulgaria67]

Agree you need an independent report stating the cause of the damage.

 

 

[Surfer01]

I can get reports from National Caravan Council Approved Workshop Scheme technicians as many of them have come across these cracks in the ABS panels on caravans.  ABS or Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic polymer typically used for injection moulding applications. This engineering plastic is popular due to its low production cost and the ease with which the material is machined by plastic manufacturers. It does suffer from weather issues.

The AWS technician is that after examining the caravan thoroughly for any other signs of impact damage they are of the opinion that the cracks are probably not due to stress related impacts from driving on British roads as a caravan should be designed to take into account state of roads etc as roads leading to some campsites may not be of motorway grade.  However it is only an opinion and not expert evaluation. 

In other words taking into consideration the price paid for the caravan it is not durable therefore not fit for purpose.  Also does not explain why caravans sited permanently on a pitch all year round also have issues with cracks. 

Manufacturer is stating it is impact damage and dealer and finance house are going along with this.  The manufacturer has a 1 year warranty on body panels and 3 years if manufacturing defect however CRA 2015 over rides any warranty!

I understand that the finance house are responsible for resolving the issue however on an initial polite letter they denied all liability stating that crack was not present at time of purchase.  I have since sent another letter last Friday to the finance house using clauses 9, 10, 11 and 19 of the CRA 2016.  I am still waiting a reply, but early days I guess.  I feel it is a latent manufacturing defect that took just over 4 years to manifest itself taking into consideration that due to lockdown we were only able to sue the caravan for about 3 years.

I guess what I really need is an expert on ABS moulding that can state the main reason why these ABS panels crack as the Internet is littered with links to people complaining about cracked ABS panels across all brands of caravans.  Not even sure where to start looking as will need to take caravan to the expert for evaluation and pay for the report.

I am not sure if this thread should be moved to another forum as my original question has been answered and it has now moved on although an insurance claim is still in place for the damage.