Sheila's wheels. Is this right?

[Aderyn19]

I have building insurance with Sheila's Wheels. Have recently discovered that ds2 bedroom floor is dipping and am worried the floor might collapse. I think the problem is maybe a previous flood that my old insurance company didn't dry out properly before laying laminate over the top.
Have just been told by the rep on the phone that they are not responsible for verifying cause of this problem and to get a builder out (now? how?) to take up the laminate and verify why the floor it's dipping.

Surely this cannot be right? What's the point of buildings insurance?
Aibu in expecting Sheila's Wheels to come out and look at this/fix it, since they are happy to take my money. Also where do I go from here?

Well normally if you make a claim, you have to provide various proofs. They are asking you to prove you have a valid claim under the policy. Do you expect them to send someone out to check your floor even though the cause of the sagging might not be insured?

Insurance companies pay to fix the damage not the cause.
For example, Our hot water tank sprung a leak and it ruined the kitchen ceiling below it.
We paid for the new tank (cause) and they payed to fix the damaged ceiling below.

That's not how insurance works OP - or not in my experience in 30 odd years of it. You need to gets quotes and a proper assessment of the damage/rectification and the insurance company will assess it and (hopefully) agree to pay.

If it was a big or contentious job they might get a loss adjuster out to agree the problem/works needed, but not usually. But even then, they wouldn't fix it themselves.

Is it just the laminate that has warped? Can you get to the ceiling below to see if the joints are bowing? If it was anything major structurally you'd probably have been aware of it before now with very bouncy, unstable floors. It doesn't sound like that, so you may just have to sit it out till you can get a builder round.

How can I verify the cause though? Ordinarily it wouldn't be a problem to get a builder out but insurance company would need to see the problem for themselves in order to fix it anyway

Floor is definitely bouncy. Because it is in ds room pit I haven't been in there for ages, but now he's home from uni and told me about it. Laminated looks fine and so does ceiling underneath.

It feels like there's a gap between the laminate and the floor - like a bouncy speed bump. Floor doesn't seem unstable though, as far as I can tell

OP, if the ceiling below is of then the joists are ok so it's unlikely you have any major problem so try not to worry.

It sounds as if the laminate wasn't laid properly, or on a damp base and it has warped and risen away from the base. Laminate is basically wood dust glued together with a photo od wood on the top - it's got little structual strength and if it gets damp it's rubbish.

Thank you. That does make me feel better

When we were concerned about a large crack that appeared in our wall, the Coop who provided our buildings insurance sent a builder out to remove the plaster, an assessor then viewed the wall, decided that there were no structural problems and then the builder made it all good and redcorated the whole room. The Coop paid for everything. I would have assumed that any insurance company would do something similar.

I would have thought so too. I mean, irrespective of what is causing the issue, it does still have to be fixed and to me that's the hob of the insurer.

Hob - job 😁

I mean, irrespective of what is causing the issue, it does still have to be fixed and to me that's the job of the insurer.

Not if the cause is something that's not covered by insurance.

When we were concerned about a large crack that appeared in our wall, the Coop who provided our buildings insurance sent a builder out to remove the plaster, an assessor then viewed the wall, decided that there were no structural problems and then the builder made it all good and redcorated the whole room. The Coop paid for everything. I would have assumed that any insurance company would do something similar.

Same with us when a water pipe sprung a leak under the landing floorboards and damaged three downstairs room.

Emergency plumber to fix leak
Emergency electrician to make sure electrics were safe
Water damage specialist to assess - supplied dehumidifiers and blow fans
Water damage specialist back to assess once everything was dry. They photographed and logged all the damage with the insurance company.
Furniture taken away and stored by removals company
All paid for by insurance ^

Insurance then gave us a choice of cash lump sum to DIY the damage, find our own contractors and supply quotes before employing them, or have the whole thing done by the insurance companies own partners.

Removals bought the furniture back when complete, we even got a refund on the electric used by the dehumidifiers.

That was prudential. Think our excess was about £150? £350 a year policy.

Insurance must vary wildly!

This is use to OP now though - perhaps ring a local builder and ask for advice?

mean, irrespective of what is causing the issue, it does still have to be fixed and to me that's the hob of the insurer.

Why is it the job of the insurer? We all pay to fix and maintain our homes. If you had a case anywhere it would be with the old insurer for the work not being down correctly. It's very unlikely your new company will pay out here.

If you had a case anywhere it would be with the old insurer for the work not being down correctly. It's very unlikely your new company will pay out here.

I would expect the current insurer to investigate and put it right then pursue the old insurer for an appropriate contribution.

I would expect the current insurer to investigate and put it right then pursue the old insurer for an appropriate contribution.

Fair enough.

Just a quick update. My insurer has agreed to send out somebody to look at it. If it was caused by shoddy repair work on the part of my previous insurer then obviously they won't pay to fix it and that's fair enough. They said if it is something else they will pay for a builder but I have to organise that myself. They said they only organise the work themselves if it's a big job.
I'm quite happy with that.