To think I'm going to be screwed both ways by insurance company?

[creativevoid]

During kitchen renovations the builders found damage that had to be repaired. The additional cost ended up being £3,500. We've been arguing with the insurance company and they've offered £700, less £500 deductible so £200. I have not accepted it and put in a complaint and we'll see where that goes but I am worried that not only am I going to end up covering this cost myself but when it's time to renew my premiums will skyrocket because I have put in a claim - or worse no one will want to cover me because I have a complaint in. Has anyone experienced this? I am so angry and stressed about all this.

What sort of damage was it?
Are they saying its not covered by your insurance policy?

Insurance solicitor here. What sort of damage was it? A building policy will only cover certain risks/causes of damage (age related wear and tear will be excluded) and will also tend to exclude the detective "thing itself" i.e. burst pipe or wrongly sized steel beam and only provide cover for the damage caused to other property by the "thing" i.e. drying out/ reinstating. If the main cost is the cost of the defective "thing" that might explain why insurers outlay seems so small. But they really should have explained this to you.

When you do building work everyone find things which aren't quite right which end up costing more than they thought.

What was it that made you think insurance?

Someone will always cover you (provided the place isn't uninsurable) so don't worry about the complaint affecting things. You're right though that your premiums will be up regardless, you've shown that you're not afraid to claim on your policy if something happens and insurers always look dimly on this.

That's not insurance it's contingency.

I think you need to provide more information as it doesn’t sound like a matter for insurance at all based on what you have said. What was the insurance event that caused the damage?

When they looked under the floor they found a leak which had costs the floor joists to rot. So the floor had to be lifted and all the joists replaced. They agree it's covered but don't agree with what it cost. I honestly wish I had never claimed as it has been so stressful and they aren't really covering it anyway. Feels like that's what they wanted.

had caused

Do insurance think you are exaggerating claim to cover existing, pre arranged work?

The value of a claim might affect your future premiums, but the fact you contested your insurers offer should not. I don't think new insurers are even allowed to ask that?

Except to the extent that an unsettled claim at renewal time might have a different premium effect to a settled claim.

Ooo difficult - that does sound a lot more grey. They are hardly going to rot over night as well so clear pre-work.

Hmm hopefully more experts wil arrive.

I guess my question is: if I just withdraw the whole thing and eat the cost myself will I at least not be subjected to an increase in premium next time? My complaint is partly about the money but mostly about how they've managed it, spoken to me, etc. But if I'm going to end up with even more stress, no money and bigger bills for many years in the future I kind of just want to back out of the whole thing but not sure if I can.

When I made an insurance claim for around 3k, the renewal premium from that company was hugely inflated, but with other insurers was as before, even with claim declared. Hope this reassures you.

A withdrawn claim will have less impact on your claims history/premiums than one which was not withdrawn. I can't say how much.

They ought to explain the reasoning as to why so little of the reinstatement cost was covered. Did their own loss adjuster come out and was the work done by their approved contractor? If done by your builder did they approve the work spec and quote in advance? Were the joists removed and discarded before the adjuster had visited? Possibly they may think the value was inflated but £700 for new joists doesn't sound like much.

As I mentioned above, the repair to the pipe would probably not be covered.

Possibly their loss adjuster may have considered that part of the rot/damage had been caused or accelerated by the leak but that the joists may have appeared to have rotted over a longer period of time (i.e. most of the damage was as a result of an uninsured event). I am speculating really but they do need to explain. It is poor service if they do not.

Complaining about the approach and querying the decision making where insufficient information has been provided is not something that will get you barred from other insurance providers. I have had to make three different complaints over the years about my motor insurers - each one was successful and none affected me getting cover at an appropriate premium in the future.

Thanks, that puts my mind at rest somewhat. To answer the questions, the builders were on site and the insurance company told me to go ahead and let them do the repair. Then they sent a surveyor out after all the work had been done. So the surveyor basically came and looked at a finished kitchen! Interestingly their first offer was £1000 - I said that wasn't enough/didn't understand the number. It ended up getting handed over to someone who was really rude. I complained about him and then voila, he came back with an even lower number. It's true that my builders were likely more expensive than the cheapest guys out there - I deliberately chose a kitchen designer and fitter that was really high quality and they've done a great job - but the insurance told me to proceed - when the damage was found the kitchen was out and the builders were mid job.

The point about the length of time the damage took to happen is interesting - they haven't said that. They said they wouldn't pay for the pipe that was leaking or the floor to be replaced (I've accepted that), but it took three guys two extra days to do the work so I'm not sure where £700 came from, or how they can explain why it's gone down since I questioned it.

I did provide photos of all the damage and the floor completely up, rotten joists etc.

I would escalate the claim. Something similar happened to me and a lady called me from my insurance company post my complaint escalation. I explained what happened, said I was trying to be reasonable by paying part of the cost and then said I felt like I was being treated very unfairly. Funnily enough the guy that came to assess the damage was also really rude. The lady heard that I was trying to be fair, agreed with my read on things and agreed to cover the damage in full.