Claiming on home insurance for first time- any experiences you'd like to share with me/

[Haylstones]

We got home from 10 days away to find our water tank in the loft had been leaking , ruining 3 brand new carpets, wooden floor, 3 celings and various bits of furniture. We also need to replace parts of the loft that have rotted and put a new tank in .
We first contacted the insurance company on Monday night and a specialist drying out company came out yesterday morning to rip up the carpets, spray an anti-bac thing everywhere, remove the rubbish and leave a dehumidifier (in te living room and it's bloody noisy!).
Now we have to wait until the loss adjuster comes round but have hneard nothing from them since yesterday morning.
Any stories re timescales, problems, pitfalls etc would be much appreciated. Living like this with 2 children will be a nightmare and I'm not sure how long the work will take- sincerely hope they find us alternative accommodation during the work but not holding my breath

poor you how awful to come back to that. Sorry have no advice but hopefully someone will come along soon.

Just depending on the amount of water absorbed, the type of your house etc, the dehumidifiers will need to be on for at least 2 weeks, and could be up to several months. This step is vital - if it isn't dried out properly you will get probs in the future.

Depending on time scales they may either pay for a hotel room (or more practically one of those hotel apartment type things) or a house rental - the loss adjuster will be able to tell you about this and the process. Check on whether you have a maximum for alternative accomodation, and remember that it is of a reasonable standard - you can't just book into the Ritz !

DH is a insurance property claims specialist and can give you advice if necs.

As a timescale guide - BIL was flooded last July - less than 10cm through the ground floor for a couple of hours. They were out of the house in a rented house for 11 months in the end, as they have a very old house which just soaked the water up into the walls like a sponge and then had lots of other problems

Thanks, that's really useful. The house is about 35 years old and luckily is detached so it didn't affect anybody else. We've only just got on top of all the renovations that had to be done, buying really good quality carpets etc so it is pretty demoralising!
They are coming back next week to pick up the dehumidifier so will make sure they confirm it is totally dry before they take it.
Being in limbo is horrible, I wish I knew when the loss adjuster was coming and what was going to happen. They haven't actually taken all of the carpets, just cut out the affected parts (roughly half of each room) so the whole place is in quite a mess. We still haven't unpacked from our holidays and I've been trying to catch up on all the holiday washing plus the towels and rugs etc we used to mop up the water- bit tricky in this weather! Dh has had to go away with work, ds is being incredibly irritable (teeth? tummy upset? wish 6mos could talk) so I am not having a good week- dd starts school next week otherwise I'd take off to my mum's!
Sorry, turned into a rant- any more advice or experiences much appreciated!

Can anyone tell me how the repair work is actually done, i.e do we have to get quotes and arrange to have the work done and paid or will the insurance company appoint somebody?

Different insurance companies work in different ways - you'd have to phone them up to find out what your particular one do. Some of them have their own contacts with builders etc, some don't and expect you to get 2 or 3 quotes and make the arrangements yourself.

Thanks.
Is very frustrating! I have little/no time to sort normal day to day stuff out let alone anything on top!

Who are you insured with ? DH will know what the score is with each company. Most now do have their own contractors so they just get on with it and you don't have to see the money.

He reckons you should have seen a loss adjuster by now, so ring and chase them

Thanks
We're with Prudential. I rang them to say I hadn't heard from loss adjuster yet and it appears that they passed the wrong number on so I now have to wait until tomorrow to hear from them.
Ds is only 6 months and has developed a nasty cough; I hope it hasn't either been caused by the damp or exacerbated by it
Lovely friend has just invited us all round tomorrow for tea and sympathy tomorrow so all is not lost

He's not sure about their arrangements, but has the following advice to offer: if they tell you that you have to arrange builders etc, tell them that you require a building surveyor to be appointed - they will then project manage, find builders, get quotes, chivvy them etc etc, and you won't have to get involved.

He'd expect that a loss adjuster should be with you tomorrow - tell them that you are concerned for the health and safety of your children in the enviroment if they try to stall

Thanks cmot, that is incredibly helpful. I'm not very good at being assertive but in dh's absence I will have to be!
Fingers crossed

If you need any help, just post or CAT me. DH very good at being assertive, esp on other peoples behalf and knows property claims inside out (he does claims over 500,000 pounds and up)

Thanks again.
Still waiting for loss adjuster to phone . Will ring them soon if don't hear anything

Just spoke to loss adjuster and they won't come out until Monday. Am not impressed and tried arguing with no success.
I said that the house was still damp and ds was chesty but they didn't care; as long as a dehumidifier is running we will dry out quickly and there is no point in the loss adjuster cming out until it is dry anyway.
Is this reasonable or not? Am so and

No, not reasonable at all. The dryness of the house has nothing to do with their visit.

Who are the loss adjusters ?

Dh is driving at the moment, but will call him and ask what you should do now.

DH says " That's a load of Cr*p. Loss adjuster should have been with you within 24 hours of the insurers being notified." Ring your insurer, tell them that your children (make sure they are aware you have a small baby) are being adversely effected by the conditions in the house, that the LA has refused to come out, and that you wish to make a complaint (this is the important bit as they HAVE to log this, and then it gets followed up). If the first person isn't responsive, then ask to speak to a supervisor.

Also, ring the loss adjusters and tell them that you have taken advice, and that you are not satisfied, and wish to make a complaint.

DH available by phone for the next hour, and is happy to talk to you direct if you'd like

Thanks cmot, that is incredibly kind of you and I'm so touched. Dh will be home tonight so I think I will pass it over to him to deal with; I'm getting incredibly stressed with a poorly baby, messy house and this on top. I just tried unpacking our holiday stuff and ds started screaming after 10 minutes so now it's strewn over my bed instead of in the suitcase.
The loss adjusters are Ribble/Kibble or similar- phone numer I was given was 0161 251371. They weren't concerned about the damp and the baby even though he coughed down the phone at them!
2 friends have taken over, one is making lunch and tea and cake this afternoon and then going straight to another for dinner and play until bedtime so I'm escaping to leave the dehumidifier running for a while.

Thanks cmot, that is incredibly kind of you and I'm so touched. Dh will be home tonight so I think I will pass it over to him to deal with; I'm getting incredibly stressed with a poorly baby, messy house and this on top. I just tried unpacking our holiday stuff and ds started screaming after 10 minutes so now it's strewn over my bed instead of in the suitcase.
The loss adjusters are Ribble/Kibble or similar- phone numer I was given was 0161 251371. They weren't concerned about the damp and the baby even though he coughed down the phone at them!
2 friends have taken over, one is making lunch and tea and cake this afternoon and then going straight to another for dinner and play until bedtime so I'm escaping to leave the dehumidifier running for a while.

Sounds like a good idea to make your DH deal with it all. My BIL legged it to the US 2 days after their house was flooded leaving SIL to deal with no kitchen/heating/running water/usable downstairs and the kids, and returned once she'd got everything moving (although DH went and dealt with the loss adjusters).

If you need any help, please just ask - DH gets v v annoyed about poor service and junior staff not using their commonsense to deal with things. Will ask him about the rep of the LAs that you have.

Thank you
Just got a letter from LA to confirm they are dealing with the claim. They are GAB Robins (so not Ribble ) and I also have an email address if necessary to put anything inw riting.
Dh due back later so home for quick nappy change then back out for spot of escapism again!

He knows them very well, and (I think) would expect better of them.

Hope your DH gives them hell when he's back (in a calm, considered manner of course )

Poor you.
We have had some bad experiences with our insurers (Lark) and two sets of loss adjusters recently, so am afraid I am rather cynical about insurance generally - we are waiting for a payout of over £1K and have been for many weeks.
I would just say its best to get on the case and keep badgering them until you get the results you want, ask your DH to help with this as you have your family to look after.
And good on you for organising help from friends, v sensible.
Good luck with it all...

Thanks all, will persevere. Friend keeping me at hers until bedtime then going round tomorrow for several coffees. Got to go into town for 4 (!) birthday presents, a new baby present and a laundry marker for dd's remaining school uniform(ran out of labels!)as well as a few other things so will spin that out as well. Hopefully we can find enough to occupy us over the weekend!

Does anyone have any advice as to whether it really is ok for us to be in the house while it is still damp? It seems to be mainly the flooring upstairs and part of the ceiling down here so I'm not sure whether to go down that route or not. Ds has got a cough/cold but I suspect he would have that anyway! Would putting the heating on help in any way?
Thanks to all for putting up with me, especially cmotdribbler

I don't think it's ideal (obviusly) to be in the house when it's damp but am not sure of the actual effects.
Am surprised they are not more sympathetic given you have a young baby at home, hence my suggestion to boot them up the arse.

I would whack the heating on if it were me as its cold anyway. Did you only get one dehumidifer? When we had our recent leak/mini flood, there were five dehumidifiers in all - the floor in three rooms was totally saturated not sure how this compares to your situation?
Can you speak to or see your Health Visitor or GP and ask for their back up in getting you moved out? Am sure its not doing your LO any good.

And I would demand your insurers chase the Loss Adjusters, they seem far too blase.