When an insurance claim pays for your decorating....

[treesandweeds]

We've had a leak and it's ruined the walls, ceiling and skirting of some walls in my kitchen and living room.

I'd like to get it fixed up a bit different to how it was. The walls are currently being dried out but when the insurance company arranges someone to get it sorted, can I get them to do a bit more and pay the difference? Ie, flat skim the ceiling instead of swirls before repairing, add extra tback board around kitchen backsplash instead of repainting. Wallpaper a wall which was painted. The rest of kitchen will need repainting also.

Anyone with experience of insurance claims please?

Hopeful bump!

Can't help about anything else but when we had a leak it was cheaper to flat skim the ceiling than put the artex back so that was all the insurance would pay for. I was disappointed as I love artex.

The insurance will only pay to return it back to what it was. You could as the contractor for the extra work but if it goes wrong the insurance co won't want to be held responsible.

Ring the insurance co and see if they will give you the money and you can then choose your own contractor. They may say no but at least you know where you stand.

Btw, years ago I had my Audo RS4 damaged by hit and run. Went to get it repaired via the insurance co. When I was at the Audi repair shop I got them to give me a seprate quote to have two doors repaired on the other side that had been keyed. It worked out cheaper for me as the car was at the repair shop and they just had to mix a bit of extra paint . I did not ask the insurance co as I had it repaired as per agreement and extra on top.

The way it worked for me following water damage was I got a quotation approved. I definitely got two quotes for the painting. Maybe I had to, Anyway, having got the necessary work approved, which was almost the whole bloody flat, I got the painter to do something in addition - probably the only ceiling that hadn’t been damaged.
So if that’s how your insurance company works as well, then yes you can pay for extra from your chosen (approved) contractor

My insurance company agreed to do different things for me if it was cheaper for them - eg I wanted painted walls rather than the previous expensive wallpaper which I could have requested - but they were reluctant to get involved in anything extra, even if I offered to pay for it, and even though they were just a private company contracted by the insurers to make repairs.

I did however pay one of the workers to do an extra couple of days of painting for me, off the record, at the weekend. We didn't tell his boss - I just pretended that DP had done it.

You might get a cash settlement and put it to your own tradesman.

Swirls on the roof sounds like artex!!! The vast majority contains asbestos- so I'd get that covered ASAP or get an asbestos kit to check. Yes, its fine if not drilled into or disrupted, but having just renovated a 4 bed house full of it- get it checked/sorted.

Just prior to moving to this renovation- we had a leak in our flat from the flat above us. We got 3 quotes, insurance agreed to the work. From memory, we paid for repairs from the insurance money, then paid for extras- like painting an unaffected hall separately. Just speak to the painter/contractor and see what they say about doing a bit extra whilst there.

Good tips thanks. Is there asbestos in a swirly ceiling?!! Will they check before painting over it? Surely not in a residential house

Painters will just paint! Not their job to buy asbestos kits to check on your behald. IF the current 'swirls' are cracked and falling off, which might require them to sand them- then they might refuse and ask YOU to sort it. You can plaster board over asbestos to make the roof smooth, or it can be removed by specialists. You can buy asbestos testing kits online. You take samples from several spots on the ceiling/wall whatever it is and they test it.

Get a few trades in and get their advice re what to do and multiple quotes.

Yes this is possible totally you just speak to the tradesperson and ask them to quote for any additional work.

we had a supermarket delivery guy drop a bottle of oil on our path. Nothing could get it out. We wanted different stone and they just charged that to the insurer as it made no difference but we wanted some additional work and we paid for that.