Insurance claim

Showmetheway2gohome

Anyone used a property damage insurance claim negotiator. Had boiler leek in loft and damage bedroom ceilings. 

Excess is £550 for water damage so been looking to see how much to repair damage come across. Firms that deal with the damage and negotiate your settlement with your insurance company. Has anyone else done this didn’t know this was a thing to this happened. 

Experience good/bad. Thanks in advance 

Lincsaddick

always useful to consult a 'neutral' assessor, just so long as his/her fee doesn't come to more than the advice/evidence increases the damages you obtain ..
 my youngest son is an assessor/negotiator in very varied legal cases .. he makes a LOT of money doing this .. the trick or skill is to leave both sides, in this case you and  your insurers reasonably happy with the outcome

AddicksAddict

Why do you need one?  Get two estimates for the work and damaged items, submit them to the insurance company.  This is what I've always done with this kind of thing and never had a problem.

There's an ombudsman's service available for this industry, I believe, but I've never had to use it so have no idea if it's efficient or not.

guinnessaddick

A couple of years ago, I hard a water pipe go in a concrete floor in the kitchen, the insurance company sent out their man, who checked what needed doing and then told me what the quote would be. I had the choice of getting them to do the work or take the money.  I took the money.

Lincsaddick

guinnessaddick said:

A couple of years ago, I hard a water pipe go in a concrete floor in the kitchen, the insurance company sent out their man, who checked what needed doing and then told me what the quote would be. I had the choice of getting them to do the work or take the money.  I took the money.

and did the repair yourself ? .. shrewd move ((:>)

Showmetheway2gohome

Last time I had a claim had a firm called home serve provided by insurance They were useless ripped our bathroom out had no wall up for about 2 weeks think we went with out a toilet for 2 days.eventually dumped them and got people I knew then to do it. But was constantly on the phone arguing with insurance it was a nightmare. 

So thought I’d try this way  guy from Aspray that come round thinks £2000 to put right also said artex on ceiling might have asbestos in it so is getting it tested. Can’t see insurance would have done that. He says you just pay him the excess when claim and work is finished. Or if the insurance firm offer me a cash settlement and I don’t use his workman he takes 10% 

 

hoof_it_up_to_benty

AddicksAddict said:

Why do you need one?  Get two estimates for the work and damaged items, submit them to the insurance company.  This is what I've always done with this kind of thing and never had a problem.

There's an ombudsman's service available for this industry, I believe, but I've never had to use it so have no idea if it's efficient or not.

I was just asked to get estimates - Insurance company seemed happy providing the estimates weren't ridiculous. Depends on your insurer?

Covered End

I had a shower leak and water come through the kitchen ceiling.
I also had a £550 water leak excess.
I put in an insurance claim & they sent an assessor.
He said the damage was about £300, so I'd need to sort it myself, which I did.
The premium went up about 30% (IIRC) the following year because I had put in a claim which they had declined.
Robbing bastards.

johnnybev1987

Showmetheway2gohome said:

Anyone used a property damage insurance claim negotiator. Had boiler leek in loft and damage bedroom ceilings. 

Excess is £550 for water damage so been looking to see how much to repair damage come across. Firms that deal with the damage and negotiate your settlement with your insurance company. Has anyone else done this didn’t know this was a thing to this happened. 

Experience good/bad. Thanks in advance 

Personally I wouldn't bother, I work in the insurance sector (Home Specifically). For Loss Assessor (customer appoints) or Claim negotiator its often not worth it. Insurance companies will have a process they follow, often these negotiators/assessors work on a % of the cost, they will try to get what they can and then you have to pay them for this.... From my experience they generally delay claims and normally inflate costs, include things that insurance companies wont pay unless it was needed. Feel free to PM me to be more specific, but if I was a policyholder/ person who needed to claim I would never go down this route. I have been in Insurance for over 12 years, 7 and a half years where I am now.

johnnybev1987

Showmetheway2gohome said:

Last time I had a claim had a firm called home serve provided by insurance They were useless ripped our bathroom out had no wall up for about 2 weeks think we went with out a toilet for 2 days.eventually dumped them and got people I knew then to do it. But was constantly on the phone arguing with insurance it was a nightmare. 

So thought I’d try this way  guy from Aspray that come round thinks £2000 to put right also said artex on ceiling might have asbestos in it so is getting it tested. Can’t see insurance would have done that. He says you just pay him the excess when claim and work is finished. Or if the insurance firm offer me a cash settlement and I don’t use his workman he takes 10% 

 

I know the company, just FYI they work on taking the percentage. Again each to their own but as previous poster has stated usually if its small 1 or 2 quotes/ possible photos and you will get a settlement less excess. You wouldn't gain anything from a loss assessor (Asprey), even larger works most will appoint their own Loss adjuster and they are appointed to manage the claim and costs, if you are not happy at any point FOS are the people to speak to. By appointing your own representative it can cause delays and additional costs to yourselves. I will tell you straight its not worth it, but you are entitled to your own opinion, any insurance company should be fair and not skip things in order to reduce the settlement or not pay for anything, if in the event you think they are not including something or trying to settle for a reduced fee speak to the ombudsman, who are the governing body for all insurance.

MrOneLung

Can only reiterate what has been said already.

get two quotes for repair work and send in to insurer.