LV Home insurance claim not reseolved after 17 months

[Levels100]

Hello there,

.

I purchased my house a few years ago at that time I made sure I had home insurance from the get-go.  Before the purchase of the house, I also had a home buyers survey done.  The survey brought up a couple of level 2 and 3 advisories.  The level 3 advisories were for gas and electric maintenance and level 2 were for minor things which required observing. one being that there was a piece of wallpaper coming away from the wall. This was registered as minor with some observing during regular home maintenance.

Roll on 3 years and I've had to put a claim in for a proposed leak, I mention proposed I was not sure as you could not hear anything nor see physical water, however, there were signs of water marks behind the kitchen door, on another partitioning wall, walls had bubbling of plaster, didn't realise at the time but the ceramic floors had cracks but I assumed it was because my kids had dropped and plates and glasses etc. I put the claim in and didn't even think as to whether this was preexisting or not, because all I know is that something isn't right

The insurance accepted the claim to then appoint a contractor to come in to assess the damage and get to plan the scheduled strip-out and reinstatement.  Lots of back and forth at this time because my plumber could not locate the leak. It took 5 months before the insurance appointed a loss adjustor, at this time I was also annoyed with the lapse of time and the multitude of people I had to speak to on a daily basis, so I also hired my own loss assessor to take reigh on the matter. My assessors have been brilliant in moving the claim along, however, 12 months later, we are now on the third loss adjustor who has basically taken things right to the beginning again.  My house had had multiple contractors coming and going, and multiple excavations to my flooring which has since caused other issues as a knock-on effect.

I have raised a formal complaint seeking financial compensation and a resolution from the insurance company.

Now questioning the homebuyers survey, and now LV have instructed the adjustor to have a recorded interview with me next week.  My assessor said he will be with me and this procedure is standard practice.

There's nothing that I have said that I'm happy to repeat, however, we are talking 12 months ago.  Honestly! the last 12 months have been about completing my degree and enrolling on teacher training, ensuring my son attends interventions pre his GCSEs and also taking his GCSEs this year

I was looking for some help or advice, if anyone has ever encountered such an elongated process

 

[unclebulgaria67]

I have a previous Insurance background and yes hidden water leaks or damage that is gradually occurring is an issue that people/Insurers confront on a regular basis.  Many Home Insurances have 'trace and access' cover, but they cannot keep taking apart a house while they try to find where a leak is.

And it might not even be a water pipe, it might be drainage under the house.  A number of times, I have recommended that the drainage system is subject to camera investigation surveys and these have found that there was damage to drains, that if left to continue causing the damage, could lead to subsidence.  And the drains have then been subject to relevant works, stopping any further damage from occurring.  The camera investigation is where they put a camera through the drainage system on a wire and they record the footage.   The Insurers may not pay for this and usually it is up to the home owner.

The home buyers survey issues you mention are pretty standard.  If the surveyor thought there were any significant issues affecting either Insurance or the value of a house, they would note these.  I don't think I would even mention the home buyers report, as 3 years on, I doubt what was noted has anything to do with what has been happening to your property.

LV have had a reputation in the past of trying to refuse claims at the time of first reporting and then to frustrate the process.   

[Levels100]

 

Hello there,

I've had to repost again as I couldnt get back into my account.

.

I purchased my house a few years ago at that time, I made sure I had home insurance from the get-go.  Before the purchase of the house, I also had a home buyer survey done.  The survey brought up a couple of level 2 and 3 advisories.  The level 3 advisories were for gas and electric maintenance, and level 2 were for minor things which required observation. one being that there was a piece of wallpaper coming away from the wall. This was registered as minor, with some observing during regular home maintenance.

Roll on 3 years and I've had to put a claim in for a proposed leak, I mention proposed I was not sure as you could not hear anything nor see physical water, However, there were signs of water marks behind the kitchen door, On another partitioning wall, walls had bubbling plaster. I didn't realise at the time but the ceramic floors had cracks but I assumed it was because my kids had dropped plates and glasses, etc. I put the claim in and didn't even think about whether this was preexisting or not, because all I know is that something isn't right

The insurance company accepted the claim and then appointed a contractor to come in to assess the damage and plan the scheduled strip-out and reinstatement.  There was lots of back and forth at this time because my plumber could not locate the leak. It took 5 months before the insurance company appointed a loss adjustor. At this time, I was also annoyed with the lapse of time and the multitude of people I had to speak to on a daily basis, so I also hired my own loss assessor to take the lead on the matter. My assessors have been brilliant in moving the claim along; however, 12 months later, we are now on the third loss adjustor, who has basically taken things right to the beginning again.  My house has had multiple contractors coming and going and multiple excavations to my flooring, which has since caused other issues as a knock-on effect.

I have raised a formal complaint seeking financial compensation and a resolution from the insurance company.

LV's loss adjusters questioned the homebuyers survey, and now LV  instructed the adjustor to have a recorded interview with me, which took place in July 2023.  My assessor said he would be with me and this procedure is standard practise.

There's nothing that I have said that I'm happy to repeat; however, we are talking 12 months ago.  Honestly! the last 12 months have been about completing my degree, enrolling on teacher training, ensuring my son attends interventions before his GCSEs and also taking his GCSEs this year

So 17 months on, LV claims and their complaints department are now just ignoring me; their loss adjustors will not, and they have not communicated with my loss assessors for months. In the recent communication that I recently received, Lv has said that they are still working on liability. If they accepted the claim at the beginning and appointed a contractor, then surely they had accepted the claim at that point? 

 

I have great trouble sleeping, and due to my day job, its really difficult to think of what my next steps should be.

Can I send SARs to LV, Sedgewick, and the contractor before going to the FOS?  

 

The claim was accepted by LV from the onset, and they supplied a contractor with no loss adjustor attached.  At present, with another Christmas passing by, my house is an embarrassment.  Also, all the complaints, lady, keeps pushing me in the direction of the financial ombudsman.  What could be taking so long?

 

Can I SAR the lot of them? LV, Sedgwick's, and the initial contractor they issued to my home at the beginning?

 

[dx100uk]

threads merged

dx

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes send the SAR's

If you have complained before and had no resolution, why not contact the FOS to continue the complaint to see whether this may help gain responses. The alternative is to start legal actions, but this may be expensive and take a long time. So trying FOS first is probably best option.

What is the assessment of what has caused the damage ? This is the most important thing to establish. It sounds like LV are looking at a poorly built house argument and that the damage does not relate to insured perils.

[Levels100]

Thank you for your response.

Lv's excuse is very poor because how long can you wait to review documents from an adjustor who does not communicate with my assessors?

House was built in 1900 (typical house/build), and the issue was found to be a leak under the ceramic floors in my kitchen. Genuine leak, which took time to discover, but eventually they found it. 

My homebuyers report made a very vague note on a bit on peeled wallpaper in another area of the house. It was listed as critical to review immediately; in fact, they said it required prudent monitoring......see attached. I think this is what the new adjustor is leaning on, although LV initially accepted the claim right at the very beginning of reporting. The loss adjustor not assigned until 5 months later 

 

Dampness prdent to monitor (1).pdf

[unclebulgaria67]

I would suggest you elevate your complaint to the FOS.

LV/Their LA's are in breach of FCA ICOBS claim handling rules. Link below.

ICOBS 8.1 Insurers: general - FCA Handbook

WWW.HANDBOOK.FCA.ORG.UK