insurance advice

[tommyscouse]

part of my kitchen runs under a flat roof(so does my bathroom as this is down stairs) well the kitchen window hasnt got a proper lintel and doesnt run in line with the bathroom window height wise, the kitchen window has sagged all the brickwork as come loose outside the house and i have a crack all the way through my kitchen ceiling.


can i claim on my building insurance?


i live in a mid terrace with cavity walls built in 1907

any advice would be gratefull

 

[Richard C]

I doubt it as it sounds like the problem is probably due to a shoddy workmanship on the extension, undoubtedly added some time after the house was built. Why don’t you ask your insurance company, they will probably send a claims assessor/surveyor who will almost certainly tell you if you have a valid claim or not.

How long have you had the property? Was it not surveyed when you bought it? If so & it was in the last 3 years, I would go back to them & ask why the potential problem was not highlighted in the survey report; assuming you have one!

 

[breezer]

claim on the insurnce

 

[^woody^]

You will have to check the policy schedule, but this type of repair would not normally be covered - its routine maintenance or wear and tear, and you nreally need some sort of accident or such like to have happened

 

[tommyscouse]

I doubt it as it sounds like the problem is probably due to a shoddy workmanship on the extension, undoubtedly added some time after the house was built. Why don’t you ask your insurance company, they will probably send a claims assessor/surveyor who will almost certainly tell you if you have a valid claim or not.

How long have you had the property? Was it not surveyed when you bought it? If so & it was in the last 3 years, I would go back to them & ask why the potential problem was not highlighted in the survey report; assuming you have one!

been in the house just over 3 years now had it surveyed but nothing was said!!! surley there is an excuse i can use with the insurance?

 

[beefster]

Was it a full survey or just a mortgage company look and value? If a full survey and the insurance will not pay out I would not be too happy with the surveyor and give them some stick.
Not sure if there is a liability on them tho but you are paying them to check things such as this on your behalf and they missed it. Sounds a basic error...... no lintle! Check its not mentioned on your survey report before you dive in tho!

 

[tommyscouse]

only thing what was mentioned on survey was wall ties for the cavity walls!! but that was the hole house

 

[beefster]

I would put a claim in to the insurance co. and see where it takes you. Dont ask dont get!

 

[Richard C]

been in the house just over 3 years now had it surveyed but nothing was said!!! surley there is an excuse i can use with the insurance?

Unfortunately insurance companies don't pay out on excuses or other peoples c*ck ups, only on an assessed risks! They are unlikely to pick up the tab to rectify work that wasn’t done properly in the first place or on a risk that would have almost certainly been present but wasn’t not picked up by a survey. Your starting point should still be to call in your insurance company & see what they say; I think it unlikely they would cover it but you never know your luck! What they may be prepared to do is help in representations to the company that did the survey.

Having suffered from surveyor negligence on our foul drain system, I successfully claimed compensation from the survey company for something they said they had inspected in the report but clearly hadn’t bothered to check. It may not be fair but the whole survey thing is based on reasonable assessment at the time of the survey & unless you can prove negligence or the problem was present at the time of the survey, you will probably have to pick up the tab. In my case, it was pretty clear cut as the problem appeared just three days after we moved in but if it had been longer then it may well have been a different story! For what it’s worth, I would never bother with one again as the checks they do, even on a full survey, are nothing a competent & aware amateur couldn’t do themselves.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

only thing what was mentioned on survey was wall ties for the cavity walls!! but that was the hole house

For ***** sake, whatever you do don't mention wall ties!!!

 

[Nige F]

or rising damp

 

[Bowness72]

I would definitely contact the insurance company and see what happens. I used to do a lot of structural engineering work for insurance claims and they often paid out on claims that could have been considered poor workmanship.

 

[^woody^]

I'm going to be a bit contentious, but why should the OP be encouraged to claim on insurance?

It's clearly not an insurance problem, and I doubt any policy or insurer would cover anyone for a building "without a proper lintel which is sagging".

It is the 'compensation culture' where people are always looking for someone else to pay, which is pushing premiums up and reducing cover, and making it more difficult to get paid out for genuine claims.

By all means check the policy, and if you have a legitimate claim then claim. But, there is no "excuse" which you can use to make a claim

For what it’s worth, I would never bother with one again as the checks they do, even on a full survey, are nothing a competent & aware amateur couldn’t do themselves.

Yes anyone can see cracks in the wall, or a bit of rot in the timber.

You are not primarily paying for that. What you are paying for is interpretation of any defects and their significance, impact on the property and the sale price, and the cost of repairing the defects. Seeing a defect is one thing, knowing what it means is another

There are numerous other things as well, and it is not a case of just looking for defects

 

[Richard C]

Yes anyone can see cracks in the wall, or a bit of rot in the timber.

You are not primarily paying for that. What you are paying for is interpretation of any defects and their significance, impact on the property and the sale price, and the cost of repairing the defects. Seeing a defect is one thing, knowing what it means is another

There are numerous other things as well, and it is not a case of just looking for defects

But if my experience is anything to go by that's all you get. I'm an experienced professional in my own right & I was totally disgusted that someone in a broadly similar profession could be so blatantly incompetent, or worse, just not bothered!

Maybe very few are in the position they can asses for structural defects, soundness & valuation & don’t attempt it if you can’t but if you are even half competent then don’t waste your money, you will still stand as good a chance of spotting any problems! I’ve since found other things the survey missed so in my case it was a total waste of a grand + (for a day’s work!) let alone the piece of mind, which I thought I was paying a professional for! If I ever turned in a report so blatantly full of inaccuracies, I’d be fired on the spot!

 

[Mr Rigsby]

or rising damp

Ooh Miss Grace.