Loss adjusters - do they tend to low ball at first with settlement offers?

[Kelta]

Following an insurance incident we have been expecting our property to be repaired under the policy. It's a reasonably big job affecting four rooms and the contractors appointed by the insurance company have said it will take a month to do the work from starting to finishing but that because we will have a functioning bathroom it means the property is liveable in and they won't pay for alternative accommodation.

For one reason and another (mainly that I have an 8 week old baby in the house and can't face the thought of the stress/mess/noise for a month), we have asked for a cash settlement figure to be provided so that we can get the work done ourselves and at our own pace.

The loss adjuster has put forward a figure which I suspect is optimistic. I saw the quote (without figures) from the original contractors and a lot of the items had "Provisional Cost" written next to them so clearly something they were struggling to quantify. I'm worried about the amount we are given not being enough to get the work done.

Do loss adjusters routinely put in a figure less than their contractors have quoted them? Im guessing they probably do since their job is literally to try to save the insurance company money.

I don't really have the time or energy to push back but I also can't be left without enough cash to sort the work out. I can get some quotes to try to check but my recent experience of this is that it takes weeks and is soul destroying..

Anyone have experience?

bump

in short, yes.

Push back.

My mums car was recent;y written off. They didn't like th eamount offered and went back and said they thought it was worth nearly 1,000 more. The insurance paid it.

I would say 2 things.

1. push back that it is liveable with a baby that small, a baby cannot be in a house with dust or new plaster or new paint. So push back citing the baby and asking for alternative accommodation and them to do the work to completion.
2. push back on cost. Ask for a break down of the amount (howmuch for structural, how much for decoration, how much for new furniture. )

Then try and get a couple of figures to disprove these amounts.

But yes, it is a negotiation, and push bakc a couple of times to them

I don’t have much experience with this other than two friends who both had to make significant claims on their house insurances. Both times a ridiculously low offer then lots and lots of back and forth.

I've worked in Home Insurance Claims in the past. When they calculate prices, they are based on favourable rates from 'tied in' contractors. So, if you were to source the work privately/independently, it could cost more, or less. It's a bit of a gamble, unless you have your own sources.
I think your angle of attack is the Alternative Accommodation angle - how can you possibly be expected to put up with building work/dust/mess when you have a new-born child, it would be massively detrimental to their health.
You could ask for a cash settlement, but it will be based on their own costs, not your private costs - but if you get the Alt Accom costs added, that should see you right.
I hope that makes sense.

This is helpful thank you