My insurance company have not done ANYTHING in 4 weeks, now sending loss adjusters in..what should i expect?

[ROSEgarden]

had a flood in kitchen 4 weeks ago, rang insurance straight away and ever since ben in constant contact with them..it took them two weeks to get a surveyor out then a further 8 days for him to submit his report and a figure to which wouldnt have coverd half of the work so i declined the amount, they then said i should have ahd the walls dried out the weekend it happend(and it wasnt) so send a company out yesterday to put down anti bac, rip out flooring, clean everywhere and install huge dehumidifiers.
the dehumidifier guy said the extent was so much worse than the surveyor had put in his report and ecause the surveyor hadnt pulled floor up or even done damp test, he had missed so much and was incompetant!..hes submitting his report this week and i rang insurance to tell them what was said..new supervisor agreed this was unacceptable and told me to get price(inc breakdown) of full new kitchen!..shes just rang back to say the first surveyor has been removed from the case and they have now appointed a LOSS ADJUSTER..so 4 weeks on and all they ahve done is send a guy out with a dehumidifier and 2 supposed expects to deal with it who obv havent..so NOw this loss adjuster is due to ring me today..what will HE/SHe do, will it now be sped up, are the known for being tight when it comes to replacing what needs to be replaced..am so fed up and havent a clue what to exxpect next so anyone who can help would be very appreciated

Hiya - Mr CMOT is out on site today, but when he's back I will get him to post - should be back around 3.

Aw thanks chick..knew i could count on you

We had the loss adjuster involved when our flat roof leaked and caused the wallpaper in the hall to baloon out, full of water. The loss adjusters sent out one of their contractors to do a report which he submitted to them.

They then called me with a figure, which was way above any quotes I had received. The bloke asked who I wanted to use to do the work - my own decorator or their contractor. I said I'd use my own and they asked for his name to send the cheque out. When I said, "I only need a cheque for £x, as that's what I've been quoted." the nice loss adjuster replied, "Well your insurance company are prepared to pay £x, I'll send the cheque for that. Why don't you get some extra bits done too!" So we did - new solid wood internal doors throughout and new skirting.

So - loss adjusters aren't always too bad.

ooh i hope i get your loss adjusters!

so do they HAVE to send the cheque to THEM?..i wouldnt be comfortable with that..id rather pay them from my bank when jjob done or earlier to buuy certain things??

meant to say tho, as ours is full kitchen that WE will have to replace, not sure HOW MUCH they will pay twards it?..all the bottom units/floor/worksurface/plastering/plumbing/electrics etc need doing adn we've had a quote for £6000...the original surveyor offerd £2000 when we THOUGHT it was going to cost £2740 for the bottom part of kitchen, but as we;ve not dscoverd its not isolated to that area it should be more..but how much more we just dont know?
am told i should expect a call from them before 3pm today then they will come out, but as i work from hom it may be next mon or tues before they can get here(so i can be free to talk) or maybe theyll come of an evening?

The cheque came to me, but it was made out to the decorators. I doubt they'll give you a cheque in your name, but I may be wrong. It may be several cheques to several companies.

well im hoping for one company to do the lot actually, but i assume beng a kithcne theyll want paying at least for that in advance so i wont have a choice but to give them the full cheque straight away??..LOL get me..sound as if im getting the full£6k odnt i

Hey Mr cmotdibbler, never mind the small matter of having your dinner or seeing your children, i need you here nooowwwwww!!

It's always nice to be wanted - I've been out at a new factory fire this afternoon so can only just respond to your message.

Loss adjuster's are generally good people who know what they are doing so don't worry overly on that front - their job is to assess the damage as they see it - you will be in a much better position with adjuster's appointed.

To speak up for the insurance industry, it's very difficult to gauge the extent of hidden escapes of water - so itf often happens that additional damage is discovered later on.

What will happen now

1. loss adjuster will visit and get you to talk through the loss - he/she will be on site for up to an hour
2. Kitchen will need to dry - depends on how bad the damage is but expect at least a couple of weeks
3. Ask the adjuster for contributions to food costs (as you haven't got a kitchen to cook in) or if it's going to be a problem living there tell the adjuster - you will be entitled to this

If you post another message after the adjuster visit i'm happy to provide additional advice - but don't worry, the adjuster is there to help.

Mr cmotdibbler

Ah thankyou Mr C...theyre coming tuesday but im not told ill have to work tuesday, luckily ill just have my dd(4) and one mindee(6) so they should be ok whie i speak to him.

So as im a childminder and my kitchen is paramount(even more so than just being a normal family for everyone elses meals/cooking etc) what should i say, what would they do?.i WILL have to move microwave, fridge freezer into breakfast room but by doing this ill have to take down the table which we use to eat from and work at(arty stuff) so whatever i change is going to cause another problem, i know this is not their fault, but every answer poses a further question and i think my brains going to pop!

oops sorry and when you say tell them if its a problem living there(well it will be having no kitchen as it is now while theyre drying it out, we can barely get in) what about working from here as well?

If you've got a standard household insurance policy, then it's unlikely that they will be providing any cover for you childminding.

If you find it's not possible for you to live there, then they have a duty to pay for alternative accomodation (probably a hotel for what is likely to be a sohort period of time)

I suggest you try and manage living where you are but ask for a disturbance allowance ( suggest 25.00 per day or similar)to which the adjuster should be agreeable.

When the adjuster visits just tell him how important it is to you to get things sorted quickly and I'm sure that they will do the best they can to sort you out.

Good luck

Mr cmotdibbler

"but don't worry, the adjuster is there to help."

Not in Hull, 8 months on after major flooding they aren't

'Loss Adjuster' is classed as swearing in this town at the moment.

How awful for you St Geoge, sorry to hear that

Mr C, thanks for al the tips i was talking to dp about ti last night ( i do have additional cover being a CM as well as normal B&C)..obv i wont tell them i want to move out as that would cause a ripple effect meaning i cant work..it would then go on and on..so that wont happen, but i will mention disturbance allowance?help toawrds food cost, but my problem there is that 3 days out of 5 i need to provide 3 very small children with 'good' meals for bothlunch and dinner, now I know i will get round this some how, but if they would normally pay x amount for a normal family, would they pay extra fochildren i childmind?..i sound like iim after every penny, im really not, but i need to be practical and if i cant use my kitchen i WILL have to buy everything fresh/take the children out every day so im going to be way short if this goes on for a few weeks??

If you've got additional cover then the policy should say what it will pay for.

Suggest you tell the adjuster what your requirements are and see what they suggest. they may well offer you a much higher sum that that I've suggested, but check your policy wording it may have limits etc etc

Good luck

Mr cmotdibbler

Thanks Mr C prob is i dont have a full detailed policy run down?..dont know why, we are very good at filing these things so im guessing it wasnt sent and we didnt think to folow it up?..will mention it tomorrow..thanks kind Sir..you may return to you lovely family now until i require your assistance again..ta mucho Mrs C

loss adjuster due between 9 and 1pm..............................why am i flapping?..i cant make the flood worse or better..he just has to look see the damage!?

Don't worry - just explain your situation (write down a list of how it is affecting you, and additional costs from buying food etc so that you don't forget).

Any worries, let me know and I'll extract Mr C from his office to give advice.

thanks....so should i have been jotting down costs i will incur?? or should i just mention that as kitchen is partially lready and soon to be fully out of bounds i would need some kind of disturbance allowance to cover food/drinks???..we are family of 3 but i also have 6 minded children through the week!!..who all have 2 snacks, most have luncha nd some have dinner!..

Good luck today and don't worry, it'll be fine.

It would help (I think) if you had some idea of what it was costing you. Don't think that it would cover the mindees, but its always worth asking him about

thanks LRWG..Mrs C, my mindees would be the main problem TBH food wise ..just worked out that on a normal wek with snacks/juice/fresh fruit and lunch/dinners i spend £64 on the mindees!!!..thats just them based on a few quid a day for each of them!!!..then theres us on top of that!..but TBH at weekends we mainly eat out, dd has school lunches..just dp makes sandwhiches for work and i have lunch here with children..its going to be a nightemare isnt it

Does your childminding insurance have any sort of business interuption cover ? Thats what normally covers businesses for additional costs incurred due to property damage.
DH has gone off to sort out stuff at his latest claim (huge warehouse fire), but will be back later

Dya know what Mrs C i never drecieved details of what my policy FULLy covers and only realised this alst week when chem dry asked to see it..we're normally so good at things like this, but just have a quick run down!?..so no idea what it really/fully covers???

ok in my paragraph F its shows business details and shows amounts for business money, any single article of business contents, temporary removal of business contents/and or stock from building, public liability and employers liability..nothing about not being able to work or provide full servcie?????