Dehumidifiers and drying out?

[VelvetSpoon]

I'm quite fed up with all this so probably BU but anyway...

2 weekends ago my neighbour had a massive water leak which has come into my house. Neighbour is in her 90s and in a care home. Her pipes had frozen in cold weather and water had been gushing in there for days. All the ceilings have collapsed next door so it's a huge mess.

My house isn't so bad, the walls and carpet in my dining room are wet and my kitchen cupboards smell of wet plaster...but could be worse.

So my insurers are involved. As apparently they are next door though I've seen no activity. Last week the insurers sent round a damage restoration co. They have installed a dehumidifier. I am to leave this on 24/7 until further notice...

Which is fine but a) nothing is happening next door where all the water is, b) this must be costing a fortune in electric and c) I've currently got a huge length of pipe running through my kitchen bent all round my tap and feeding into my kitchen sink. They've wedged the pipe down the sink drain so I can't clean the sink and water isn't draining away, so my sink stinks. Plus we've all tripped over this pipe at least twice each. Apparently we have to put up with this for 7-10 days.

After which they're going to rip half my kitchen out and strip the walls to bare plaster. But leave my cooker in so I can still cook and I have to pay 50% of the cost of new kitchen worktop and cupboards because they will have to replace all of them to match.

All that is bad enough but at present I'm more concerned about this bloody dehumidifier...does this sound normal if you've had a water leak?

It sounds right to me. My mum had a burst pipe and she had to have a dehumidifier for 8 weeks. So 10 days sounds quite quick. There is no point in them doing any work until the house is dry as it will cause more issues.

Some buildings can take 6 months to dry out, so it's not unusual at all. You can claim for the extra electricity of running the dehumidifiers, and it is normal to have to pay to replace undamaged units if you want them to match and your units are no longer available

Sounds normal to me too. You should be able to claim back money spent on the extra electricity though.
I’d argue the 50% you have to pay toward the kitchen - can’t this all be claimed from next doors insurance? Do you get a ‘no claims’ bonus from house insurance? If you do you shouldn’t lose yours as none of this is your fault!

Dehumidifier sounds normal, paying 50% of costs for kitchen does not!
We had a leak a few years back (we were away for a week so it got pretty bad by the time we got home). It took 8 weeks with 4 large dehumidifiers and fans to dry the place out. Insurance replaced wardrobes, carpet, cupboards, dining table, light fittings, laminate and repainted. I chose stuff to the equivalent value and quality of the existing. I also insisted they rehome us until the place was dry and habitable for a small child. They paid for a nearby holiday cottage for 8 weeks. The guys doing the repairs on behalf of the insurance company said it was obvious those who shouted loudest got most and people often don't get rehomed for similar damage as ours. It wasn't safe for a 4 year old to get to the downstairs loo past large floor mounted fans, across building rubble, the place stank, it was dreadful.

I suggest if you are unhappy with the pipe into your sink or other arrangements you have a firm word with the insurance company. I never raised my voice to them but I was firm, insistent and never went away!

Apparently nothing can be claimed from next door. It's not my leak nor my fault yet I'm paying out.

I don't see the point of a humidifier if nothing is being done next door as that's where all the water is...It's not my leak.

I resent having to pay 50% of the kitchen cost. Or have to have a kitchen with different cupboards and worktop which will look ridiculous. Plus being expected to live with no cupboards in my kitchen for weeks once they rip it all out. The mess and stress will be horrendous.

it is normal to have to pay to replace undamaged units if you want them to match and your units are no longer available

That may be true depending on the insurance you have and if you are claiming on your own policy. Some policies cover matching sets, others don't. Where the policy doesn't cover the matching set the FSO may insist on the insurer paying a % cost of replacing undamaged part of a matching set.

So check your policy for what it says about matching sets if you don't have matching set cover you may need to haggle with them.

The pipe is a hazard. Why it has to be fed 15ft across the middle of my kitchen and not through a window 2ft in the opposite direction is beyond me. I dont consider myself overly houseproud but not being able to clean my sink is really unpleasant.

Why it has to be fed 15ft across the middle of my kitchen and not through a window 2ft in the opposite direction is beyond me.

Could this be because if it was going through a window the window would have to remain open which would be a security risk?

It could have gone out the small fanlight window at the top - too small to be a security risk but would be a lot less of a hazard than a trailing pipe running across the room.

Email sent to my insurers. They have an annoying habit of calling me (usually when I'm in a meeting or work call) and then being unavailable when I return the call. Due to nonsensical 'DPA' requirements they can't leave me a message with any info, frustrating.

Tripped over the bloody pipe again this evening

You only have to pay 50% of the undamaged kitchen units. If you don’t have matching sets cover like someone else mentioned then your insurance really only covers the damaged items. Your insurer will pay for up to 50% of the undamaged units though because it’s a stance the FOS has recommended.
You can certainly claim for the additional electricity. When you have your bill for this period compare it to your bill for the same period last year and it will give you roughly the additional cost (give or take some rate changes of course).
Your neighbour would have to be negligent for your insurers to pursue them for the cost of repairing the damage to your home. If they can’t prove negligence then they can’t recover the costs.

Leaving a house unoccupied for months without checking it/ switching off water etc is negligent I think. The Fire Brigade certainly weren't impressed.

I've never heard of matching sets cover. There was no specification eother way when I took out my insurance. It seems ridiculous. If you have a car accident and one side of the car is damaged and a panel etc is replaced, they respray the whole thing, not just the affected panel. I'm being penalised for something that wasn't my fault and will end up several £1000s out of pocket. Or have to live with a kitchen which will look ridiculous.

I'm clearly going to have to make a formal complaint just to get this dealt with properly. At the moment I can't even use my sink to wash up. Ludicrous.