Historic insurance claim advice please

[olbndansmummy]

Long story, but the shortened version is that in March 2012 we had a flood in our home (bungalow with 2 bedrooms upstairs) the entire ground floor was water logged. Insurers at the time sent in drying company with fans and dehumidifiers. All wet floor coverings removed too. About 4 days later the drying company came to check progress and noticed the dpm (which was a brown thermo plastic tile) was lifting in places so removed all of them in every room. 4 days later new floor leveller was put down in every room.

Now almost 7 years on our kitchen floor has cracked and is falling into a void underneath it. We contacted our current insurer who sent a structural engineer to assess the damage. His report blamed faulty workmanship from previous claim, as no dpm was put in place following removal of old one. So they sent us back to our previous insurer as it was their contractors who carried out the works.

Previous insurer sent loss adjustor out who looked at the damage they offered us £1500 to get the repairs done, which we refused. They advised us to get 2 quotes from builders, one was for £6000 and the other was for double that. All of our carpets are mouldy because of damp, but no mention of covering these because they say as they are almost 7 years old they would need replacing now anyway. They have now offered us £6000, but according to a builder they use the works could be done for approx £1600 and the rest to buy new carpets. They are refusing to send their own contractors to do the works.
If you made it to the end and understood everything thank you.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

OP, I got slightly lost where you say....

”They have now offered us £6000, but according to a builder they use the works could be done for approx £1600 and the rest to buy new carpets”.

What is the issue if they have offered you £6000 and will this cover the cost of you hiring a builder to complete the works and pay for new carpets?

The price for £1600 was from a builder they use, but he can't do the work. The cheapest we have been quoted for is the £6000. I have asked for the builder's details as if he can do the work for that we would use him, but they won't pass his details on

Sorry the builder we contacted quoted £6000 for the work alone, no new carpets into that. It is a massive job. 4 rooms, plus hall and bathroom.

You can't force them to reveal their builder's details and, to be honest, I would be very nervous of a builder who quoted that little given the quotes you got.

but no mention of covering these because they say as they are almost 7 years old they would need replacing now anyway.

They've told you that they won't be replacing your carpets because they are now 7 years old - so they're paying you the cost that your builder quoted to get the work done. It doesn't matter what their builder quotes, and you wouldn't want to use a builder who quoted less than a third of your other quotes!

If you want to dispute the carpets, maybe try sending proof of the quality of the carpets and how long they were expected to last to the insurers - although you'd come up against the standard six year lifespan belied so you might get nowhere.

Thank you for your responses. The insurers own supplier did the carpets. Although we changed the downstairs bedroom carpet in 2017 because we damaged the old one.

OP, obtain 3 quotes and present them to your insurance company. The insurance company should accept one of your quotes. Don’t give up as they are obliged to assist you.