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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think the insurance company shouldn’t be causing me this much stress after a fire?

113 replies

FireAdvice · 22/07/2025 20:48

So had a massive garden fire in May. Thankfully the house was undamaged but we lost the garden office and sheds and all contents. I still have received no payment for the contents. The insurance have accepted the claim and say I’m fully covered, like for like, old for new, etc.

They sent a disaster firm out to clear the site. Apparently careful lists of stuff which was damaged beyond repair was taken before they removed it. Plus a list of stuff removed to see if it can be restored. The latter list was mainly electrical stuff like laptop, smart monitor.

and then things have gone very quiet. I have chased , emails go ignored. I’ve uploaded photos to the portal, etc. provided links of how much stuff will cost to replace.

so at the weekend I left a shitty review on TrustPilot that got things moving. Phone call today. Which to be honest stressed me out more. He wants me to provide receipts for my bikes. Well I can for one but not for the other. He tells me to go back to the shop and ask them to go through their records and find paperwork. Or me look through bank statements. It was years since I bought it, I can’t remember how many years. I have photos of the bike (with me sat on it) with the brand very obvious, they only make one model of bike (it’s expensive). I have a quote for a new bike. If I have old for new why do they need a receipt from when I bought it ten years ago? They could see the remains of the frame (with the make on it) in the ashes.

Then there is the multitude of stuff which you could see remnants of in the ashes, lawnmower, hedge trimmer, bbq, eglu chicken coop. Rather oddly the disaster company haven’t listed these…..well they removed them. So as far as the insurance company are concerned they didn’t exist! Thankfully I took a video of me raking through the ashes before the site was cleared so I should be able to prove the majority of it.

I’ve still no idea of whether my electrical stuff is retrievable. Been without a laptop for months now!

Haven’t been able to cut my grass for months! Haven’t been able to go on a bike ride in months and I used to be out 3 x a week. I cried on the phone to the insurance today. I’ve paid a lot of money and never claimed in 25 years of having insurance and never thought it would be this bad sorting it.

is this normal for insurance claims? The dawdling and the difficulty in proving stuff?

I haven’t even got onto the topic of stuff of which there was no sign of in the fire such as my surfboard or gortex jackets.

OP posts:
autienotnaughty · 28/07/2025 20:57

FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 20:45

@autienotnaughty sorry you had that, a house fire must be 100x worse. When you say proof of anything over £10 do you mean proof you owned the item? Or a link to show how much a replacement would cost?

Ideally a receipt but a link if not. We had some receipts but not many.
it was honestly completely surreal we got home one day and couldn’t enter the house. We were out of the house for about a year in total we lived with the in-laws for the first 6 weeks until they sorted us a rental (which was fab tbf) we lost roughly 80% of our belongings and the entire house was redecorated,carp ts, floorings , bathrooms . The kitchen was the only room that didn’t take any damage (it was underneath the room the fire started in)
it was nice seeing the house decorated in the colours we chose and new furniture we picked. When we moved back everything was brand new.
Now it seems like some weird nightmare.

Hope you get sorted soon and yes it does make you think about how much you insure things for. Our buildings claim was fine but we were about 8k from the max limit on our contents. We weren’t sure if we would get everything we needed.

Yabberwok · 28/07/2025 20:54

FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 19:59

Thank you. The cost of new bikes of the same make and model has actually increased slightly since I bought them. One is only a couple of years old, the other is older but has not dropped in price.

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I bought a decentish bike in about the year 2000, I've done thousands of miles on it. Looked for a new one from similar reputable companies and it was a couple of hundred less...but I've replaced 12 spokes on one wheel and had 3 punctures!! Mind you I've done at least a thousand miles in the 18mths

Original poster
FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 20:45

seekingopportunities · 28/07/2025 20:25

Tag them on social media. Vent. They respond quickly then.

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In fairness my new claims manager seems good and on it. I’m happy to let him try and sort it now he’s in charge.

OP posts:
Original poster
FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 20:45

@autienotnaughty sorry you had that, a house fire must be 100x worse. When you say proof of anything over £10 do you mean proof you owned the item? Or a link to show how much a replacement would cost?

OP posts:
seekingopportunities · 28/07/2025 20:25

FireAdvice · 23/07/2025 09:26

Aviva. So you’d think a good one 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Tag them on social media. Vent. They respond quickly then.

autienotnaughty · 28/07/2025 20:22

We had a house fire a couple of years ago, obviously more complicated because we couldn’t live there. It took a year to sort all of it but the buildings elements took longer. We were allocated a loss adjuster immediately who visited within days of the claim. The company who dealt with the contents took about two months to go through through it all and estimate prices. We then had to agree or challenge the prices (with proof if over £10) A rough time line was -
fire - jan
restoration company started on contents - feb
finshed itemising/separating contents - may
Agreed offer (after some negotiations) -June
pay out - July
ours was also old for new. Tbh most things we got slightly more than we paid for. So for example dds make up pallettes cost £45 but are now £50 so we got £50. The only things we lost out on were electrical items as they tend to lose value.

We were with a cheap unheard of company but tbh they were pretty good.

Original poster
FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 19:59

Yabberwok · 28/07/2025 19:57

£4500 per bike, or rather the new value of the same or similar bikes today. That can be an issue. Remember when dvd players first came out they were mega bucks...then quite quickly the price dropped and you could get a really good one for £250? But with bikes I know that the price for quality handmade/top end bikes new stays roughly the same. So you will be covered on an old for new basis (unless your policy wording talks about indemnity or deductions for wear and tear which I doubt)

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Thank you. The cost of new bikes of the same make and model has actually increased slightly since I bought them. One is only a couple of years old, the other is older but has not dropped in price.

OP posts:
Yabberwok · 28/07/2025 19:57

FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 18:41

Thank you. And would it be £4500 total. Or if I have 2x £4500 bikes would it be 9k?

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£4500 per bike, or rather the new value of the same or similar bikes today. That can be an issue. Remember when dvd players first came out they were mega bucks...then quite quickly the price dropped and you could get a really good one for £250? But with bikes I know that the price for quality handmade/top end bikes new stays roughly the same. So you will be covered on an old for new basis (unless your policy wording talks about indemnity or deductions for wear and tear which I doubt)

Original poster
FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 18:41

Yabberwok · 28/07/2025 18:39

Your reading the schedule I believe there which sets out limits and details of the cover, it's to be read in conjunction with the policy book. As I read the book your cycles are to be covered up to £4500 anywhere including at home. If there is a confusing or contradictory policy wording the rule is always to find in favour of the customer.
You are covered to £4500. That's how it reads it could be in a locked building in outer Mongolia or your house,...it's still £4500

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Thank you. And would it be £4500 total. Or if I have 2x £4500 bikes would it be 9k?

OP posts:
JackGrealishsCalves · 28/07/2025 18:41

Oh God is she a dame now? Her and her designer shoes that she flaunts at staff on much lower wages.
I have painful experiences of her from the front line in the past

Original poster
FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 18:40

JohnofWessex · 28/07/2025 17:57

I would be chasing up the police about your neighbours

Don't forget that arson carries a discretionary life sentence

To be honest I think I’d rather let sleeping dogs lie.

OP posts:
JackGrealishsCalves · 28/07/2025 18:40

InveterateWineDrinker · 23/07/2025 15:42

I just knew this was going to be Aviva. I wouldn't think that.

Aviva is a darling of the stock market at the moment because Dame Amanda Blanc (Chief Executive and utter cunt) has overseen a massive turnaround in profitability. Much of it is from cost-cutting, which means they don't have the staff to respond in a timely fashion, and they hold on to your £40k for an extra month or two - which benefits them, not you.

I had a life insurance claim against them last year which should have paid out within days. Two months after I made the claim they were still asking for new information from me to process it, and cocking up virtually everything they did. They didn't even bother to respond to my formal complaint within the mandated timescales. In the end, I initiated court proceedings and they paid out within hours of that. Aviva have lost my custom forever.

Edited
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Oh God is she a dame now? Her and her designer shoes that she flaunts at staff on much lower wages.
I have painful experiences of her from the front line in the past

Yabberwok · 28/07/2025 18:39

FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 18:34

Thank you, mine says

Personal Belongings in and away from your home:
These limits apply in addition to the limits stated above

Unspecified personal belongings £2,000
Single article limit (unless a specified item)
Personal money £750

Personal Belongings – Specified Personal Belongings (in addition to the
£2,000
limits stated in the Personal Belongings section): not covered

Personal Belongings – Pedal Cycles:
Individual cycle limit £4,500

They surely can’t say if your bike was burnt or stolen away from the home you’d be covered for £4500 but if it gets stolen or burnt in your shed then you have a £2500 limit???

Show quote history

Your reading the schedule I believe there which sets out limits and details of the cover, it's to be read in conjunction with the policy book. As I read the book your cycles are to be covered up to £4500 anywhere including at home. If there is a confusing or contradictory policy wording the rule is always to find in favour of the customer.
You are covered to £4500. That's how it reads it could be in a locked building in outer Mongolia or your house,...it's still £4500

Original poster
FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 18:39

Yabberwok · 28/07/2025 18:34

As regards to the fire under the metropolitan fires act 1777 there is a strict liability situation to deal with people who let fires get out of hand whether intentionally or not. Therefore op if you have legal assistance as part of the house or your motor insurance, or as part of membership of the AA etc they might be able to help with recovering anything not covered by your house insurance.

Thank you. Yes some legal firm are on the case with chasing uninsured losses. I’d assumed this would be just my excess. But now I’m thinking it might be quite a bit more.

to be honest if I get 8k for my bikes, 4k for most of my contents plus a bit more under business for my desk, laptop and monitor then I’m good. They’ve obviously already paid out around 20k for replacement buildings and fencing.

i might be a couple of £thousand down still I guess. The sofa was £800 so that’s a massive chunk of the 4k contents gone.

Some stuff such as my laptop, monitor, turbo trainer may yet be recoverable and not need paying out. Still waiting for electrical testing. If I get those back then I might not even max out the 4k limit.

OP posts:
Original poster
FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 18:34

Yabberwok · 28/07/2025 18:25

Ok read a policy and it says "we will provide cover for loss or damage to your pedal cycles.... anywhere in the world" as long as they are"in your immediate control....or in a locked building"

I thought that would be the general jist...so if you have cycles cover then they are covered anywhere. Therefore, they will be separate to the cover provided for items in outbuildings.

Thank you, mine says

Personal Belongings in and away from your home:
These limits apply in addition to the limits stated above

Unspecified personal belongings £2,000
Single article limit (unless a specified item)
Personal money £750

Personal Belongings – Specified Personal Belongings (in addition to the
£2,000
limits stated in the Personal Belongings section): not covered

Personal Belongings – Pedal Cycles:
Individual cycle limit £4,500

They surely can’t say if your bike was burnt or stolen away from the home you’d be covered for £4500 but if it gets stolen or burnt in your shed then you have a £2500 limit???

OP posts:
Yabberwok · 28/07/2025 18:34

As regards to the fire under the metropolitan fires act 1777 there is a strict liability situation to deal with people who let fires get out of hand whether intentionally or not. Therefore op if you have legal assistance as part of the house or your motor insurance, or as part of membership of the AA etc they might be able to help with recovering anything not covered by your house insurance.

Yabberwok · 28/07/2025 18:25

Ok read a policy and it says "we will provide cover for loss or damage to your pedal cycles.... anywhere in the world" as long as they are"in your immediate control....or in a locked building"

I thought that would be the general jist...so if you have cycles cover then they are covered anywhere. Therefore, they will be separate to the cover provided for items in outbuildings.

Yabberwok · 28/07/2025 18:20

You've got me wondering....I'm going to try to look at an Aviva policy wording... back in a mo

JohnofWessex · 28/07/2025 17:57

I would be chasing up the police about your neighbours

Don't forget that arson carries a discretionary life sentence

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 28/07/2025 17:55

Yabberwok · 22/07/2025 22:00

Can you give an rough idea of the value of the claim?

When I was a claims manager, admittedly 25 years ago now (and where has that gone?) we would have appointed a loss adjuster to manage such a claim. They would have visited and inspected. Liased with the disaster company and basically been a personal claims handler.

It's unreasonable for the insurer to ask to go and get a receipt for an item that's years old. They accepted premiums to cover it.

You need to speak to them again tomorrow and check that they have registered a complaint. They have 48 hours initially to resolve it, before it's falls into a complaint they need to record for the FSA, or at least that was the rule back in my time.

This is what happened when we had a house fire.

All receipts were burnt.

You need a loss adjuster. We had a guy who gave us his mobile number. We could contact at any time. All paid up within 6 monyhs

Original poster
FireAdvice · 28/07/2025 17:52

After more advice and hopefully reassurance if anyone has any knowledge, maybe @Yabberwok

so just when I thought things couldn’t get any more stressful there is a big problem. So my first claims manager had incorrectly reassured me (or I had misunderstood him) and said they’d accepted my claim. I think I probably misunderstood him actually…I thought it meant apart from a bit of individual item quibbling they were paying out.

someone earlier said check my limits. Yeah, £2500 outbuildings cover. And £1500 garden cover. So my new claims manager rang today and said basically the most they can pay out on contents is 4k. That will be in addition to what they’ve already paid out for the actual buildings/structures as that came under building insurance.

now initially he seemed to think that 4k would include my 2 expensive bikes. But I’ve pointed out I pay aviva an extra £75 for pedal cycle cover , up to £4500 per bike. There is no mention on the schedule of how many bikes. So he says he now needs to go and check if the bikes will be covered seperatly or whether because they were in an outbuilding then the outbuilding limit still applies! But surely you can’t have bikes insured up to £4500 but if they’re in an outbuilding you don’t get that much?

I then pointed out on the schedule it says I have business cover up to 6k which he hadn’t realised. So he’s agreed (I think) that laptop, monitor, webcam, office chair and desk can come out of that pot rather than the 4k pot

Does anyone else agree that the bikes must surely be covered under the separate bike cover or what’s the point in paying an extra £75 a year for bike cover? Also will they turn round and say £4500 total or should it be £4500 x 2 for 2 bikes worth that amount. One bike is worth 4.5k, the other is actually worth 3.5k. That cheaper bike had extras, such as fancy panniers which were a couple of £hundred. Could that £200 be added to the 3.5k cost to make it nearer 4.5k or will it have to come out the 4k pot?

in other news apparently the fire starter has told a mate of his in the next street he started it on purpose. Can’t prove anything though and there is some muttering on the village jungle drums about the reliability of the “mate” and whether it’s true or not. There may be general shit stirring.

OP posts:
Yabberwok · 24/07/2025 20:46

FireAdvice · 24/07/2025 19:03

I didn’t realise I could add the cost of a loss adjuster to the claim and try and get that money back. Think I may investigate this next week.

Given that they have failed to appoint one yes, indemnity could in theory include a la. However, it will be termed a consequental loss...one that would arise out of the incident but which isn't covered by the policy such as having to drive further to work if your insurance company re-homes you temporarily following a claim.

That said I would expect that any decision from the FSA would include the la's fees given the failure so far of the insurer to adequately deal with the claim. For example it's unreasonable to expect anyone to have a receipt from 2013. It's unreasonable to delay this type of claim for this length of time without starting reconstruction.

Op personally tomorrow morning I would find out the address and name of the CEO and write a recorded delivery letter. I would also contact my MP and perhaps the daily mail/radio 4s you and yours ( they read every email)

Yabberwok · 24/07/2025 20:34

MandyMotherOfBrian · 24/07/2025 11:30

I had an appalling time dealing with Aviva (policy sold by M and S) and their loss adjuster Sedgewick, to pay out for storm damage to a chimney and roof. It went on for absolutely months on end - so long that a bird built a nest and raised a family in the open chimney - which they then tried to claim meant they didn't have to pay out as it was classed as vermin and not covered. Seriously, they tried everything to avoid paying - I won't bore you with the details but I spoke to so many different people, over the course of months (thankfully I took notes of every single name and phone call, and followed them up with emails to outline what had been said to me). Basically, I knew I was right and they were wrong and I was not backing down, and if someone said they would call me back at a certain time/day, and didn't, I called them immediately. I think they were really pissed off I wasn't backing down and just giving in to what they were saying, so at some point Sedgewick got some guy higher up to deal with me, he was really aggressive and rude. I was always calm and polite, but I wasn't going away. I think my calm politeness really riled him and after a lot of toing and froing and reiterating of what happened, time lines, what was covered, weather reports, site reports from an expert etc he really lost it and called me a liar (my 'story' had never differed in any way from the very beginning because it was the truth, and I don't think he really thought for one minute I was lying or else it wouldn't have got as far as it did - I'd have been investigated for insurance fraud I assume).
I never bothered to find out, and never bothered to complain. But I can only imagine (and assumed at the time) that calling a claimant a liar is quite serious, because he suddenly went absolutely silent and when he did speak, his whole demeanour had changed. He was polite and conciliatory and though he didn't go back over all of the things they had said were right/wrong to explain why he was suddenly changing his mind, he simply told me the claim would be paid and the total amount that would be sent to my account....
Anyway, good luck OP, I hope it all gets resolved satisfactorily. And after what a PP said, I'm off to look at a Hiscox policy for when renewal comes round!

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As I've said previously I spent 20 years in insurance. Calling a customer a liar is a big big no no. It's unprofessional and can lead to disciplinary action.

I've turned down hundreds of claims. I've declined claims because of fraud but I have used specific language. Like they have not acted as if they were uninsured (an important implied condition of any insurance contract and fully supported in UK legal precedent) or that they have failed to prove that they suffered a loss covered by the policy. Never once have I said the customer was lying. It weakens any legal case.

You never hear of fraudulent claimants being taken to court, that's because it is so hard to prove they are committing fraud, only if they are making multiple claims does it proceed. The policy will often be cancelled ab inititio - from the beginning - and all premiums refunded....the customer has to declare this to any future insurer, failure invalidates any policy.

Original poster
FireAdvice · 24/07/2025 19:09

Oh and amazingly I have found emails between myself and the shop which sold me the bike that I have no receipt for. From 2013! No actual receipt but the email trail consists of price negotiations, a price being agreed, the shop owner detailing what extras were included on the bike such as better spec components, him giving me his bank details for the payment and then me saying I’d paid the price agreed. So that’s something I guess.

It’s just an independent bike shop/bike builder who runs a shop out a terraced house and has no proper computer system. It’s not like buying a bike from Evans.

OP posts:
Original poster
FireAdvice · 24/07/2025 19:03

I didn’t realise I could add the cost of a loss adjuster to the claim and try and get that money back. Think I may investigate this next week.

OP posts: