Please help - Financial Ombudsman being obtuse & unhelpful

[AWorriedMum]

Hi everyone,

A contractor working in my garden last December damaged one of the ground loops for my ground source heat pump - my space heating and hot water went off immediately and have not worked since. The contractor alleges they repaired the ground loop but they didn’t show me any repair and they infilled the trench containing the damaged pipe with soil, no one can see if they have or haven’t repaired it.

I made a claim for accidental damage under my buildings insurance but my insurer rejected the claim, saying the pipe was repaired and any difficulties I’m currently having with my GSHP are ‘unrelated’.

So I complained to the Financial Ombudsman, giving all the details. The investigator seems very unwilling to help me, and gives one excuse after another as to why she thinks my insurer has ‘done nothing wrong’.

First she cited a ‘lack of information’ (I’d provided full information); then she said she couldn’t do anything because my independent engineer report did not state the actual reason why my GSHP is still not working (so I pointed out that I have no contractual obligation to explain why it’s not working). Yesterday she came back to me saying she still concludes as before because my contractor had recommended I get my radiators bled and I have not done this. This had been mentioned before and I had explained that my whole heat pump system is completely dead - bleeding the radiators is not going to make any difference, it’s just the contractor making me jump through hoops.

I could get a ground worker to dig up my garden to check if that ground loop was repaired, but it’d take weeks/months and cost £££, getting a plumber to bleed my radiators would also be a hassle and cost money - and I’m afraid if I do these things the investigator will simply make up another excuse.

Any advice would be gratefully received. This was a rock solid insurance claim, the facts of the case are so obvious - why won’t the Financial Ombudsman investigator find in my favour and oblige my insurer to accept my claim for accidental damage?? And what can I do??

Absolutely this - it is the contractor's insurance the claim should be against. Accidental damage on your insurance would be if you were digging the garden and damaged it.

The contractor is claiming he fixed it precisely so you don't claim on his insurance.

I’m sad to read so many posters seem to have been let down by Ombudsman services - I feel sorry for people, and it doesn’t bode well for me!

Yeah, I’ve called a plumber and hopefully they’re going to bleed the radiators next week and write a report stating whether it’s made any difference.

So I just called my legal insurance helpline, which is under my home insurance cover. Apparently one of the exclusions under the legal insurance is that I cannot use it to take legal action against my insurance company.

I’m just waiting for the assistant to get back to me about whether I can use my legal insurance to pursue a claim against the contractor. Not sure if I’ll be able to do this because the contractor was working on behalf of - and paid directly by - my insurer.

Hang on - so the contractor claiming to have repaired the GSHP was contracted by the insurance company to repair it?

That really was not clear from your OP, or am I being v. dim?

Sorry, I was trying to keep my story as simple as possible, but yes, to clarify -

In late October there was some accidental damage to my septic tank (done by the emptying service). I called my home insurance and they said they’d have to replace the septic tank.

In early December, the contractor was performing the work of replacing my septic tank, digging in my garden with their JCB, and accidentally damaged the ground loop of my GSHP. I had given them a map of where the loops are in the ground before their work commenced, but it still happened and it was an accident.

I’m just waiting to see if my legal insurance will cover me to pursue this contractor even though they were paid by my insurer. This has been such a nightmare - first I had septic tank failure, then no central heating for 6 months (so far), financial ombudsman doesn’t want to help… I’m so grateful for all the responses I’ve had on here today!

WeAreTheHeroes
« The contractor is claiming he fixed it precisely so you don’t claim on his insurance »

Yes, you’ve hit the nail on the head there - it just seems to me the contractor knows exactly what to say and do in this situation, whereas I feel like the ‘new kid on the block’ never having dealt with this particular type of problem before.

First of all you need an independent report as to why your heating has failed. Once you have that, take it to the insurance company who instructed the contractor.

Until you have that independent report you don’t really have a leg to stand on unfortunately.

I have already submitted an independent engineer report to my insurer to say that he’s inspected my heat pump system and it’s not functional any more.

Unfortunately he can’t give an exact technical reason without uninstalling the heat pump and taking it to bits and/or digging up the garden. Both of these would be very expensive and I’d have to put my time into hiring tradesmen to do these things for me.

I had hoped the insurer / financial ombudsman would accept the independent engineer report, but the latter is saying that it’s not detailed enough and they want to know exactly why my heat pump is still not working. It’s an onerous requirement, which is why I queried upthread whether I really have the responsibility to provide that much detail as to what is wrong with it.

@AWorriedMum Sorry, can we start at the beginning again so I understand where the complaint currently sits?

You've had some building work done, heat pump damaged, workers claim they have made repair when they haven't done so, pump no longer functional, you've tried to claim insurance which has been denied, you have gone to the Ombudsman?

The first thing you need to be absolutely certain of is that it is the builders' fault and try and claim on their insurance. Your insurer will not consider paying out until this avenue is exhausted. This is why they want to know why the heat pump doesn't work; they need to know that it has stopped working because of builder negligence and not because of some other reason (e.g. the heat pump was faulty or simply stopped working for another reason).

If we fast forward to a point where builders were negligent, can't (rather than won't) pay out and you have claimed on your insurance and they have said no then you must complain formally to the insurance company first and they have 8 weeks to respond. Only after that when they reply giving reasons for the outcome of your complaint can you go to the Ombudsman and they will similarly want the same proof of negligence to find your insurer at fault rather than the builders or a dodgy heat pump.

This. Nothing to do with the insurance company at all.

Your contractor is liable.

OP if the insurance company did go ahead of your say so what do you expect to happen if they dig it up and it's repaired properly? Although it's unlikely it's not impossible. If your insurance company does hire a contractor and have it dug up and it's correctly repaired you would be liable for all their costs. I expect it would be a lot more than you paying for it yourself. You are saying what they require of you to establish fault is onerous, but there's at least one lawyer commenting on your thread and they have said you need to locate the fault yourself first.

Hi, thanks for the replies! It’s so helpful to get other people’s perspective.

I honestly had not thought of claiming on my contractor’s insurance, I just went straight to my home insurance company. I don’t know why they didn’t just redirect me? Instead my insurer gave me a different reason every time I called as to why they would not accept my claim, the Financial Ombudsman the same - that’s what has created the impression that they’re just making excuses and being unhelpful. If either my insurer or the Financial Ombudsman had simply said ‘look, WorriedMum, you really need to be pursuing your contractor instead’ I could have understood.

Anyway, I’m now waiting for my legal insurance to get back to me as to whether they’ll cover me for action against my contractor, for negligence. Fingers crossed!