Finally some progress yesterday!
The insurance appointed builder sent their surveyor last Thursday, I showed him the damage, he took some photos and measurements and then left, didn't really tell us anything about next steps etc (I didn't get a chance to speak to him before he left as I was working, so my partner showed him out).
Heard nothing until yesterday, after I asked for an update - got a single line reply stating the work had been approved and the builders would contact us directly to arrange a start date - no detail on the actual work they would be doing!
I emailed back asking for a copy of the scope of works, but at this point my partner was getting fed up and she also followed up with a rather "strongly worded" email about their lack of communication and wanting to make a complaint if we didn't start getting a bit more information
That seems to have kicked them into gear a little, as yesterday afternoon we received the scope of works, followed up by a phone call from the builder to discuss any queries we had.
So far looking positive, from what I can tell they are planning to fully rip out the self-levelling compound (which is all cracked) and redo it, replace the laminate & skirtings (obviously), retile the whole kitchen (which I wasn't expecting), replace all of the ground level cabinets, the worktops, repaint the hallway (upstairs and down since it's all the same colour), repaint the living room (due to skirting on 1 wall being removed), and redo the gloss/satin on all of the door frames in the affected areas
We've also asked the question of the insurer about access to kitchen facilities while the work is going on, and whether there's any cover for alternatives (or at least to cover our increased costs due to not being able to cook).
However, we asked about a few points in the scope of work (the main one being a layout change in the kitchen), at which point they suggested we should probably ask for a cash settlement instead due to the scale of the changes we wanted to make, so we're now waiting to get a figure back from the insurance based on their estimate before making a decision.
It does sound like the cash settlement might be the best option, as we could probably save a few ££ on quite a few of the items:
Laminate I can do myself (although we're now considering tiling the kitchen floor instead, so that might be more of a challenge).
Tiling the kitchen - it's currently floor to ceiling, which we don't really like, I'd rather have tiles half-way up, and then painted above that - still something we're unsure of, but could save a few ££ on tiling. Removal of old tiles again I can probably DIY - new tiles I'm not sure, it's not something I've done before.
Repainting the entire living room and hallway is unnecessary - I still have half a tin of paint from both, so can just redo the affected walls, and I can also redo the satin on the woodwork.
So that basically leaves us with the actual kitchen itself to be re-done, for which we've had a few quotes already.
Compiling a list of the pros/cons of each option, please let me know if I've missed anything:
Insurance appointed builders
Pros:
- Will only cost our excess (£500)
- No surprise additional issues/costs
- I don't need to do the work myself
- We don't need to find/arrange/chase trades to get the work done
- Any problems with the work and it's the insurance company's responsibility to sort out
- Potential cover for alternative facilities during work?
Cons:
- Will most probably be like-for-like, so can't change the layout to what we would prefer
- The appointed builders have awful reviews (although the information on them seems to be quite scarce, a lot of the reviews are for travel insurance, so it looks like they may actually just be a general claims handling company and will subcontract to a different builder - which still doesn't fill me with confidence)
- Won't be able to start work until they've got availability, which I get the impression could be a couple of months
Cash settlement
Pros:
- Can get exactly what we want
- Can DIY a lot of the work, so some cost savings, and can make a start ASAP
- Can choose our own trades
Cons:
- Almost certainly will cost a few £k more
- Any further issues/costs discovered during work will need to go back to the insurance co. for approval
- Needing to actually find decent trades
- Any problems with the work are our responsibility
- Needing to the work myself - extra effort, and might take longer due to needing to work around my job/looking after kids etc.
While there
are more cons to taking the cash settlement, the big sticking point is being able to change the layout of the kitchen - it's currently pretty poor, with a lot of unusable space, moving a couple of appliances would open that up significantly, giving a lot more both counter and cupboard space.
Obviously it all depends on what the settlement figure is - hopefully we'll get that today!
