Looking for advice/guidance on the following scenario as have been lucky in never needing to raise a buildings insurance claim before.
In brief, we had a leak in the ground floor dining room, claimed on home insurance under trace and access cover, chap came out and repaired - all good.
As expected, the solid oak flooring was damaged when being uplifted to gain access to the leak but reinstatement is covered as part of the claim.
The insurers advised to get a quote from a local fitter, submit to them and they will review and advise.
Found a local fitter to quote to supply and fit replacement flooring for the affected dining room - he advised that as the flooring runs from the dining room into the hallway, we should claim for the whole area to be replaced as it would be difficult to find matching flooring for our existing 15+ year old solid oak floor and that the insurers should appreciate this.
Even though we were more than happy for just the affected dining room area (4 sq m) to be replaced and a door threshold installed where it meets the hallway (1 - 2 sq m), the fitters comments didn't seem unreasonable.
The local fitter duly provided his quote for the dining room and hallway which we have forwarded on to our insurers - the insurers have referred onto a third party company called Building Validation Solutions to review and approve/decline the claim and I now need to contact them to schedule a surveyor visit.
When the initial claim was raised, my insurers were very vague with the details of what is or isn't covered and genuinely gave the impression we could claim for whatever was required to make things right hence why, along with the fitters advice, we claimed for the hallway as well.
Reviews of BVS are not good but my immediate concern, and the reason for posting, is to ask if the surveyor from BVS visits and rejects the claim outright, will that be the end of the matter or can the claim be adjusted/re-submitted for just the affected dining room area to be replaced? Alternatively, I'm not sure whether to obtain a new quote from the fitter for just the dining room area and to then re-submit to my insurers now so they can either approve themselves or again refer to BVS.
TIA.
In brief, we had a leak in the ground floor dining room, claimed on home insurance under trace and access cover, chap came out and repaired - all good.
As expected, the solid oak flooring was damaged when being uplifted to gain access to the leak but reinstatement is covered as part of the claim.
The insurers advised to get a quote from a local fitter, submit to them and they will review and advise.
Found a local fitter to quote to supply and fit replacement flooring for the affected dining room - he advised that as the flooring runs from the dining room into the hallway, we should claim for the whole area to be replaced as it would be difficult to find matching flooring for our existing 15+ year old solid oak floor and that the insurers should appreciate this.
Even though we were more than happy for just the affected dining room area (4 sq m) to be replaced and a door threshold installed where it meets the hallway (1 - 2 sq m), the fitters comments didn't seem unreasonable.
The local fitter duly provided his quote for the dining room and hallway which we have forwarded on to our insurers - the insurers have referred onto a third party company called Building Validation Solutions to review and approve/decline the claim and I now need to contact them to schedule a surveyor visit.
When the initial claim was raised, my insurers were very vague with the details of what is or isn't covered and genuinely gave the impression we could claim for whatever was required to make things right hence why, along with the fitters advice, we claimed for the hallway as well.
Reviews of BVS are not good but my immediate concern, and the reason for posting, is to ask if the surveyor from BVS visits and rejects the claim outright, will that be the end of the matter or can the claim be adjusted/re-submitted for just the affected dining room area to be replaced? Alternatively, I'm not sure whether to obtain a new quote from the fitter for just the dining room area and to then re-submit to my insurers now so they can either approve themselves or again refer to BVS.
TIA.
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sorted byThis raises another concern - the damaged area is about half of the dining room floor as only this amount had to be uplifted to access and repair the leak - would any claim only cover this small area?
They paid for the whole hallway to be refloored as well as decoration which covered the hall, stairs and landing as it was all one colour, which of course would have been impossible to match.
The guy was spot on and suggested things I'd have never have thought of!
There is a reason buying policy is 3 clicks job done online but claims journey is long, tiring and mostly offline (for all kinds of insurance) so stick to what they owe you and also mention what was told on call by customer service which lead you to believe that you are doing what’s covered in policy.
Had hoped for a smooth claim as I don't have the time to potentially chase this down to resolution but, as I now know what I will be in for, have steeled myself for a fight.
Appointment booked for later this week.