Home insurance claim - burst pipe - advice needed please!

Haggisman

Haggisman

Haggisman

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Joined
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Birmingham
Literally no idea what to expect from this to be honest - woken up at 1.30am yesterday by one of the kids demanding a drink, heard a strange noise coming from downstairs and found about 2-3mm of hot water covering the kitchen floor and into the hallway.

Turned the water off, and found that the flexi hose for the hot tap has burst.

The floor is ruined, so that all needs to come up, the plinths are all soaked, so they're scrap as well, the bottoms of the kitchen units on the side with the sink are really swollen and there's already some white fluffy mould growing underneath, the cabinets on the far side aren't so bad, but still some moisture and swelling coming up a few cm on the panels which are sitting on the floor.

We've had a water leak/drying specialist company out already to do an initial assessment, and they've measured excess moisture in the wall/skirting board in the living room which is on the back of where the sink is.

To complicate things further, when they've pulled off the plinths they've spotted some potentially asbestos containing tiles, so we need to wait till probably early next week for the samples they took to be tested.

Anyone had to deal with similar? The timescales they've given seem quite long, we're looking at 3-4 weeks drying time apparently, plus the time taken to any of the work, not sure if they'll need us out of the house during any works as well, which is not ideal. Then there's wondering about any payout - if it was just the floor it wouldn't be so bad, materials we're talking ~£500, but I fitted it myself before, so would they expect me to do that again for free or would the payout cover my time, or for someone to fit it? As for the kitchen, it's probably about 15 years old, so I'm not expecting them to pay out £6k for a brand new one, but equally, we had a perfectly serviceable (if dated) kitchen before, and needing to suddenly find several £k to make up for any shortfall is again not ideal...
 
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You should raise a claim asap to discuss it with your insurer, even if you don’t pursue it. They will help advise you, as they’ll want to minimise their cost if the claim progresses.

I had a pipe leaking in the loft and my insurer (Aviva) quickly confirmed they would pay to fix any damage. It turned out not to be required as the carpets and loft insulation dried up so just painting needed.
 
Coran said:
You should raise a claim asap to discuss it with your insurer, even if you don’t pursue it. They will help advise you, as they’ll want to minimise their cost if the claim progresses.

I had a pipe leaking in the loft and my insurer (Aviva) quickly confirmed they would pay to fix any damage. It turned out not to be required as the carpets and loft insulation dried up so just painting needed.
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Yes we did this yesterday, it was them who instructed the water damage company to come out
 
Bump!

The asbestos test came back positive, so now we're waiting for a disposal company to arrange to come out.

In the meantime, the claims handler has asked if we want to use their contractor or appointment their own - she basically said we could get someone to come out and give us a quote for/breakdown of what would need to be done to restore the kitchen/flooring.

Problem is, I don't know what we're actually looking at here, she's sent over a list of actions the water damage company need to do; strip the flooring and skirting in the kitchen and hallway and dry (also one wall in the living room which backs onto it), so obviously those need to be replaced, but some of the skirting is behind the kitchen cabinets (on the living room adjoining wall), so those cabinets will need to come out surely? And there's no mention of the other cabinets which also got wet - they look like they've dried out now, but they're still slightly swollen in places.

I've emailed her back asking for clarification, but just wondering if anyone has dealt with similar and can shed some light on it?

I assume if we use their contractor then they'll do exactly what is needed to restore it and no more, whereas if we use our own then they'll pay out the required amount (assuming the quote is reasonable), but we could then potentially top it up if we wanted any changes?
 
With upmost respect, this is what you pay insurance for. Just get a quote with a high quality company (expense is not your concern) to fix EVERYthing to at least as good as before. If it means a whole new kitchen...so what?
Surely it's black and white here. You are insured. Get quote and send to insurer. If they want to say it's too high, cross that bridge when you come to it.
 
Are the plinths and anything damaged readily available to buy as spare parts for your existing kitchen? Sounds like no. So if there is no realistic colour match going to happen here it surely has to be new kitchen? The insurer can cry all they want at your 10K quote from Wren for a new kitchen but what else are you meant to do? All of the appliances won't fit too so I would assume they would need to be included. I would just get a quote for a whole new kitchen with roughly the same spec appliances, whole new floor, and then work to rectify the damaged wall and everything else. Sounds like 15K to me.
 
I very much doubt it, since it's so old and I have no idea where it's from!

I'll start looking at kitchen quotes then, thanks :)
 
Insurance (Buildings/Contents) is there to put you back in the position you were in before the loss, although most have a New for Old element included (They're not sourcing a similar age kitchen to replace yours, as that would be a) unlikely and b) probably more expensive than just replacing with new).

Get a few quotes from reputable firms who can do the work (may need a couple of different places as a builder/joiner who'll sort the building damage is unlikely to be able to supply and fit a new kitchen, and vice-versa). They should send a loss adjustor out to discuss what needs doing.

Once you've got the quotes, deal with your claims handler/Loss Adjustor - hopefully your Buildings & Contents insurance is on the one policy (makes life much easier).

Keep track of every expense throughout the claim - my parents' new wood burning stove started a fire in the structure of the chimney, causing smoke damage throughout the ground floor and their bedroom. The cost to make the chimney good was relatively low, but replacing all the wood flooring & carpets, sofas/soft furnishings, all their clothing (dry cleaning couldn't get rid of the smell/damage), redecorating, etc, pushed the claim costs close to £80k.

Everything was eventually reimbursed, but it took time.
 
I'd use an independent claims handler to deal with the insurance. Yes they'll take a cut of the claim (I think 10%+vat), but they know exactly what to claim for and how much they can claim.Its your claim handler then that does the horse trading with the insurance company's loss adjuster. We had a leak in the attic a couple of years ago, which leaked all day whilst the house was empty, which damage the hallway walls, 2 bed rooms, including wooden floors, some electrices and of course the insulation in the attic. Took about 2.5 months of de-humidifers to dry it out.

We guessed maybe a £15K payout. The claim handler got £28K from the insurer, on the basis we take the money and that was the end of it, use it for whatever, no inspection, no invoices. Or we get no money directly and employ individual contractors and submit invoices, and the insurance company pays the contractors. The one-time pay out works for the insurance company in that it's done and dusted, whereas its a lot of admin to work with different contractors, and likely they have to come out to check the work each time etc. So they make the payment attractive.

After the handler got his cut, we were left with around £25K. We spent £13K on a contractor to do the work plus £1.5K on the electric & rental for the de-humidifiers.

Admit that a kitchen makes things a lot more complicated, as assessing the quality of the fittings countertop etc is more subjective, and unlikely to be able to replace exactly like for like. The insurance company definitely won't assume the cost of fitting the replacement floor is zero just cause you fitted it yourself, the insurance is to cover the floor and the fitting.

It was just the hassle and crappy experience of the disruption to the house week before Xmas, with floors back to concrete and dehumidifiers going 24/7, and rooms out of action for months, that is the main memory of that time. The fact we had £10K to put towards a new kitchen did soften the blow a bit.
 
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tangey said:
I'd use an independent claims handler to deal with the insurance. Yes they'll take a cut of the claim (I think 10%+vat), but they know exactly what to claim for and how much they can claim.Its your claim handler then that does the horse trading with the insurance company's loss adjuster. We had a leak in the attic a couple of years ago, which leaked all day whilst the house was empty, which damage the hallway walls, 2 bed rooms, including wooden floors, some electrices and of course the insulation in the attic. Took about 2.5 months of de-humidifers to dry it out.

We guessed maybe a £15K payout. The claim handler got £28K from the insurer, on the basis we take the money and that was the end of it, use it for whatever, no inspection, no invoices. Or we get no money directly and employ individual contractors and submit invoices, and the insurance company pays the contractors. The one-time pay out works for the insurance company in that it's done and dusted, whereas its a lot of admin to work with different contractors, and likely they have to come out to check the work each time etc. So they make the payment attractive.

After the handler got his cut, we were left with around £25K. We spent £13K on a contractor to do the work plus £1.5K on the electric & rental for the de-humidifiers.

Admit that a kitchen makes things a lot more complicated, as assessing the quality of the fittings countertop etc is more subjective, and unlikely to be able to replace exactly like for like. The insurance company definitely won't assume the cost of fitting the replacement floor is zero just cause you fitted it yourself, the insurance is to cover the floor and the fitting.

It was just the hassle and crappy experience of the disruption to the house week before Xmas, with floors back to concrete and dehumidifiers going 24/7, and rooms out of action for months, that is the main memory of that time.
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Have had a look and that may be an option - it sounds like you were happy with the one you used, do you mind saying who it was?
 
Haggisman said:
Have had a look and that may be an option - it sounds like you were happy with the one you used, do you mind saying who it was?
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I'm in Northern Ireland and used a guy local to me that I was aware of and knew others who had used him. I'm not sure how you go about selecting one, except maybe if you know someone that had to do similarly. The big advantage is that he/she has the experience to know what can be claimed for, the limits that the insurance company will allow, the various particular ways that each insurance company operates (ours was aviva), and likely a lot of stuff joe public would not think about, such as your time in organising everything. For example you might consider £30 a hr a reasonable price for a painter, and claim on that basis, but in fact the insurance company might pay up to £50 a hr, and the handler will know that figure.

Getting a lump sum allows you to organise things in your own time frame, and do things as and when. And perhaps save some money if you know some good tradesmen.

But as i said, when it comes to a kitchen, which you kinda need operational, maybe its a different consideration.
 
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tangey said:
I'm in Northern Ireland and used a guy local to me that I was aware of and knew others who had used him. I'm not sure how you go about selecting one, except maybe if you know someone that had to do similarly. The big advantage is that he/she has the experience to know what can be claimed for, the limits that the insurance company will allow, the various particular ways that each insurance company operates (ours was aviva), and likely a lot of stuff joe public would not think about, such as your time in organising everything. For example you might consider £30 a hr a reasonable price for a painter, and claim on that basis, but in fact the insurance company might pay up to £50 a hr, and the handler will know that figure.

Getting a lump sum allows you to organise things in your own time frame, and do things as and when. But as i said, when it comes to a kitchen, which you kinda need operational, maybe its a different consideration.
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Ah, fair enough, I shall do some more research into a few companies - it definitely sounds like it could be useful, as it doesn't feel like the insurance co. are providing very much info on what we should be doing at this stage (perhaps intentionally!) :(
 
Haggisman said:
Ah, fair enough, I shall do some more research into a few companies - it definitely sounds like it could be useful, as it doesn't feel like the insurance co. are providing very much info on what we should be doing at this stage (perhaps intentionally!) :(
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Yeah, I think some will play on the fact that most people have zero idea how to progress, and are mostly dealing with the shock of the disrupted house.
Just check how much the handler will charge you.

The first time I used one was for a small leak in a place I rented out, around £2K or so payout. I was expecting to be down around £500 as that was the excess for the escape of water. As It turned out, the payout was £500 more than what I needed to get the work done, and that was after my claims handler and excess was paid.
 
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I remember when my water tank in loft burst whilst we were on holiday. Took around 4/5 months before we could finally move in at a cost around £30-£35k
 
It looks like a claims handler is out of the picture as the claim is likely to be lower than the minimum any of the ones I've looked at will entertain.

So far still waiting to hear anything about the asbestos removal - spoke to the insurer yesterday and this is apparently in the hands of the water damage specialist, so need to give them a ring today and chase it up.

Meanwhile some of the exposed edges of the cabinets and drawers are starting to develop mould, yay!

happy_2008 said:
I remember when my water tank in loft burst whilst we were on holiday. Took around 4/5 months before we could finally move in at a cost around £30-£35k
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I doubt it's going to anywhere near as high as that, purely because it's only really the kitchen which is badly affected, and the house is still liveable.
 
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