Or rather what is reasonable in this situation?

[VelvetSpoon]

My neighbour recently had a massive water leak which has affected my kitchen.

My insurers are coming in soon to strip out all the cupboards on the adjoining wall so the wall can be dried. All the cupboards, contents plus other furniture (table, chairs, sofa etc) is to be taken out and put in storage. I'm told that drying the walls will take a week, then at least 2 weeks to strip the plaster, replaster and put everything back. End of April at the earliest.

My insurers think my cooker will be left in situ (I can't see how, as it's a built in one on the affected wall) and therefore I'll be able to use my kitchen. However I won't have a table or anywhere to sit. Or to prep food. The cupboards have all my plates, saucepan etc in. I'm not sure how I'm expected to manage?

Alternatively they were talking about offering us a daily allowance to eat out. I think £10 a day was mentioned.

I'm not overly happy about any of it, not least it going on for almost a month. So what would you want or expect in this situation if you were me?

Not ideal but i think i could just about put up with it for a month. Just keep a box of essentials and camp out in the house. Use a small camping table for prep.

A month is understandable not knowing how much water and how long it will take to dry.

I wouldn't accept a £10 daily meal allowance personally, even per person it won't get you far. And doesn't account for travel costs etc, or inconvenience. I'd be looking for a higher daily allowance per person plus consider getting an electric mini oven thing to use in a different room.

The bottom line is why should you be out of pocket with time or money? That's what insurance is for. The problem your insurers have is they have to justify the charges when they counterclaim from your neighbours insurance company, but that is their problem they took your premium, they sort out the issues.

What do you want? A hotel?
Do you have young children/baby?

I would probably expect/want a decent daily allowance...

Whe a colleague of mine was flood the kitchen had to be taken out and so she was given a rental allowance. For one month, I'd look for a holiday let or air b&b type thing.

From a mortgage point of view (which is also a view insurers take) a sink and a connector for a cooker (with space for one too) classes a kitchen as usuable.

I'd be arguing to move out.

They should be able to set up a temporary cooker/sink. You may have to be creative with slow cooker/microwave etc short term , eating in another room.

Theres not another suitable room to use for food prep. My dining room is also affected and all the furniture is coming out of there too. I don't have another table to use, or anywhere I can store kitchen items. As a ft working single parent this is hassle I really don't need! Especially since no one seems to have thought how we will manage. I'm sure they expect we have family we can pop to for meals!

I thought £10 was too low. I've not agreed anything yet.

The bottom line is why should you be out of pocket with time or money? That's what insurance is for.

I agree with this. They can recoup all the costs, but it's absolutely not for you to be out of pocket and without a kitchen for a month. None of this is your fault.

£10 a day is way too low. Have you googled to see what might be available? Moneysavingexpert or something might have info.

The bottom line is why should you be out of pocket with time or money? That's what insurance is for.

totally agree.

How old is your child?

OK You will need to make do and I for a year cooked on a camping stove never mind a cooker with no prep area. You are going to need to simplify meals and try and get kids to eat proper meal at school so they can have snacky or light meals at home. Find a cheap fold up table that can be used in the lounge temporarily or something.

I would look to fund meals for the week end and maybe one or two nights as you say you have kitchen and dinning room out of action but you can't live off takeaways for a month so its unhealthy never mind tedious and boring. I think you need to balance getting some money to help off them and being reasonable. so e.g. cereals for brekkie or toast can be managed elsewhere.

It will be a massive inconvenience and frankly I would be looking for a rental property for a month - you can guarantee it won't be a month with all that work!! I would be arguing that another property with all bills and rent paid for 2 mths. e.g. a local holiday cottage or something. But bear in mind if they do that there would be no other compensation for inconvenience and food etc

I don't know if there is such a resource for you - I live in Canada. However, when we have to travel for medical care for my daughter, I can claim $51 per person per day for meal expenses, which converts to just a hair short of £28. If you still have a fridge, cold breakfasts and lunches are an option, as are disposable plates and cutlery - but at least one hot meal a day is reasonable. However, the £10 per day (even if per person) is not enough - unless they are expecting it to cover just one meal.

I hope it works out for you.

RB Not sure why the OP has to "make do"; not her leak, not her problem. The insurers are assuming she's stupid and will just accept the cheapest they can get away with. This is nowhere near acceptable.

Re making do - we built an extension to this house which meant I had a makeshift kitchen where my cooker was in the space under the stairs for 6 months and at various intervals my sink was a washing up bowl on a pasting table. At that time both my DC were under 5. So I have roughed it. I have made do. The difference is that was my choice. This really isn't. Having finally got my house done and living for the last few years as a normal person with full functioning kitchen and bathroom, stuff on the walls and floors rather than bare plaster and floorboards I'm not keen to go backwards!

My DC are teenagers, eldest is working but they both eat all meals here.

I think if we lived in a cheaper area they would rent us somewhere but given a 3 bed house rents for at least £1500 a month here I can see why it's cheaper to give us a meal allowance.

I'm not clear on what they're doing with the fridge, that's not on the affected wall so I'm assuming they will leave it in situ. That will help to an extent.

Out of interest, do you own or rent? I'm presuming own.

You could push for more, but might not get it, in which case you'll need to make the best of eating out, eating at home, and visiting friends and relatives.

For eating at home, could you spend the £10 a day on a load of meals from Cook (or other good quality ready prepared food) that can be cooked without preparation? They'll probably also argue that you would be spending money on food anyway, so the £10 is only supposed to cover extra costs, not total spend for the duration.

Not sure why the OP has to "make do"; not her leak, not her problem. The insurers are assuming she's stupid and will just accept the cheapest they can get away with. This is nowhere near acceptable.

Totally agree with this. £10 a day is an insult and I wouldn't hesitate to tell the insurers so. Not to mention the expectation that you will be happy to 'camp out' in your own house for an extended period because of something beyond your control.

I'd want a rental property – a serviced apartment with a decent kitchen/ette is what I'd expect. I'd be happy not to receive additional money for food as long as I could reasonably cook and store food while away from home.

I had wrangles with home insurers a while ago about a similar issue; their loss adjuster also tried to make me agree to the solution that allowed them to shell out the bare minimum. It took a while and a lot of stubbornness on my part but they did concede and pay out eventually.

Courage, OP!

Yes I own the house.

We don't have anyone we can visit other than my bf who lives locally but in a tiny flat where there's not much room to cook and certainly no space for 4 to eat.

I really am not happy with having a makeshift kitchen in my hallway or stair landing but that seems the only way it could be done.

Oh what a nightmare!

Personally, I wouldn’t choose to move out, I’d rather be at home & ‘making do’.

I can see why they’re saying the oven will still be ok, because they’ll be moving all the other units out so the air will circulate around it and the wall will dry out behind it.

No idea what your layout is like but hopefully they’ll be able to arrange it so that you have some worktop available to you.

My main concern would be water damage to the cabinets. I can’t see how they can be undamaged and able to be reinstated.

As for food, I’d refuse £10 per day, that’s ridiculous.

I’d cost out 3* ready meals for 4 nights, takeaway for 2 nights and a reasonsbly priced meal outside the house for one night. Then add a bit on & tell them that’s the minimum you think is reasonable.

Plus a contribution to electricity/gas for heating & dehumidifiers etc

They’ll get away with as little as possible, you have to be firm.

I think they are probably basing £10 a day on HMRC subsistence rates for people claiming expenses when working away from home. It isn't meant to cover the entire cost, just the extra expense of eating out compared to eating at home. Which sucks as it doesn't take into account the inconvenience to you

I guess they will argue that you can still make tea/toast/cereal for breakfast and eat it on the sofa at no extra cost to your normal life, as long as you have a suitable sink to wash up in (not in a bathroom). Ditto making sandwiches for lunch, although you can argue against that if you have no fridge or preparation surfaces. The £10 is probably only to cover the difference of how much more it will cost you to buy a takeaway or eat out for dinner than it would if you bought food to cook at home.

I think the maximum rate is £25 a day for all 3 meals so you could argue for that, quoting the HMRC guidelines. Alternatively, you could calculate the real cost of eating out where you live (with menus as proof) and deduct the usual cost of your weekly food shop.

Don't forget to include laundry costs if you won't have a washing machine!

This sounds like a big piss take . So you've gotta have your kitchen took out ? What happens if cupboards are damp ? Don't go back how they were , get damaged ?

Then you're being very inconvenienced by all this , £10 a day is a joke .
Don't accept this pittance they are offering and personally I would get advice if they don't start offering more for this amount of inconvenience to yourselves when it's not even your leak !

I've had the removals and storage guy round and he doesn't get what they're trying to do re the cooker either - as its built in he agrees they can't take the other cupboards around it out and leave it on it's own...plus the hob is built in to the worktop which they can't dry behind unless they remove...

He also doesn't get why the cupboards are being stored as there is definitely damp behind them (you can smell it when you open the cupboards).

Maybe they're trying to leave the cooker in place because removing the cooker would be the trigger for you to have to be rehoused while the work is carried out and that would be more expensive than you staying at home with compensation towards takeaways etc?

Is it worth querying this or complaining? I think you have to go through a set procedure before going to the ombudsman, which is time consuming and not helpful when you are stuck there with a damp kitchen.

Can you get a builder/kitchen fitter or 2 round to see what they think needs doing? Tell them its an insurance job they'll be used to it.
Also you don't have yo use their workmen do you? And definitely check your cupboards carefully. You don't want damp damaged cupboards or cheap crap replacements!

What connections do you have gas/elec? Could they connect a stand alone cooker whilst they sort? If you oven us electric and on that wall is it still safe to use - I'd want it fully testing!