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

[FireAdvice]

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.

Good news on impending payment though. How and if your insurance recoups money is, fortunately, not really your problem. Your premiums will go up anyway!

Either deliberately or accidentally. Not very clear. Certainly not an electrical fault, my boundary hedge caught fire and the fire is down as having started his side. The fire investigation officer says he can not determine the start of the fire. Neighbour admits to throwing hot metal in the hedge though fire brigade says that won’t have started the fire so god knows.

if his insurance (if he has it) has to stump up then I will get any uninsured losses back which will be at least £350 excess and potentially anything further (currently waiting to see if electrical items can be restored) once I’ve had my limit. So it could make a difference of 1-2k to me.

plus my insurance said my premiums will be cheaper on renewal if it goes down as his fault rather than my fault….im sure they will still be higher than before the fire regardless.

Ah I see. Usually fault isn’t apportioned and, because you’ve claimed, premiums go up. I didn’t set fire to my summerhouse. Someone else did. Police didn’t give a !!! So we had to declare a claim.

I doubt it, a couple of grand the insurance company might not bother...a good few thousand and it's solicitor time. We had solicitors queuing up to work for us so I'm sure he'll be getting a nice letter on the doorstep pointing out that his own house insurance may well cover him under his legal liability as occupier of his home... either way he's going to pay up. As I've said it's a strict liability situation.

@Yabberwok It is not if there’s no proof of anything wrong. Not sure if hot iron in the hedge (?) was the issue but the fire report doesn’t apportion fault apparently. So whose fault is it?

My total claim is tens of thousands probably between 30-40k in total plus whatever they have paid the disaster company for site cleanup and contents restoration. I’m hoping that my insurance company will be keen.

my insurance seem to think that as the fire investigation report says the fire started on his property and spread to mine then that’s enough to chase his insurance. Ultimately I just need to leave it for the insurance companies to sort it out I guess, it’s out of my control.

I hope that whatever else happens it makes your neighbour change their behaviour

Just coming on late to say I am glad you got your bikes paid out in full and I am appalled that Aviva at one point tried to suggest that they were not subject to separate cover.

I’n an insurance lawyer (more on corporate claims though) and that policy wording was clear as day.

I think that the receipts stuff was unnecessary nonsense too.

Sadly, home insurance claims handlers are terrible, claims get shoved from pillar to post and they lack empathy. A family member with a disability had a horrific experience after a flood claim, they seemed incapable of understanding that a person with a home adapted for wheelchair use could not be housed in a hotel. (Disability had been fully declared when policy taken out).

@FireAdvice Yes. I’d just accept the settlement of your claim. How it’s sorted out by the companies isn’t down to you. Have a nice meal out and get on your bikes - in the nicest possible way!

Also be grateful your claim isn’t what DH is dealing with for a client! Non payment. Ombudsman said pay. The insurance company has appealed with very spurious evidence. It’s a building one but it’s a massive claim! Years in and still no money plus a damaged property.

Blimey. That sounds awful.

Yes I accepted pretty much straight away (after quickly checking the sums). Overall I’m happy, shame it took over two months.

Money is in my account, lawnmower arrives on Monday. My jungle of a garden will be grateful. I didn’t dare buy one because someone said sometimes the insurance company don’t give you the money but send you the items instead and I was scared I’d end up with two! 😁

@FireAdvice Yes. Not accepting ombudsman for starters! It’s a huge claim and the insurance company is appalling!

It's not really about fault, in that if you have a fire, say a bonfire and it gets out of control you are liable even if it was an accident. Given that fires very very rarely start in urban situations by accident or spontaneously, the person who had the fire on their land is responsible.
The lead case which sets precedent is one where a person had a reputable builder working with a blow tourch, that set fire to his roof, which set fire to next door. Usually under common law you are not liable if you use a reputable trades person for many events. Under the 1777 act you can't escape liability for 'escape of fire'