happy new year everyone.

[Juju]

I would have said happy new year but now I won't cos I'm grumpy. Something stressful always happens in January to mess up our plans. Last year my badly fractured wrist put me out of action for weeks and now we've just heard that Mr Juju's late father's house has suffered a major burst pipe or tank or something. We had left the heating on so not sure what the cause was. Anyway, sounds like the place is in a disastrous way - most of the ceilings are down, water everywhere, etc etc. Luckily we had just about finished clearing the place out so no damage to treasured possessions or anything and the place is insured but it'll be months before it's sorted. We were all geared up to put it on the market next month.

Anyone else been through this - do insurers take months to sort things? It's 200 miles away too so that's an added complication although neighbours and a relative will help out. Oh and it's a 1980s bungalow so luckily no precious historic fabric to worry about!

Juju

 

[Penners]

do insurers take months to sort things?

That's rotten luck, Juju.

The answer to your question, I believe, is that it depends on the company. Some are good, some are not.

It might be worth going carefully through the policy details to see whether the company gives any kind of promptness promise. If they don't, and if they do seem to be dragging their feet, then I'm of the firm opinion that Who-Shouts-Loudest-Gets-The-Quickest-Service. I don't think it helps to be unpleasant (except in extremis), but just keep calling and politely nagging them, day-in day-out. The idea is to get them to deal with your case ahead of the queue so that you'll go away!

Good luck - I hope you get it sorted out quickly.

 

[Feltwell]

That's not nice Juju, just what you could do without I bet, under the circumstances.

There is a slight positive though - you should end up with a newly decorated & carpeted house that will be easier to sell.

An ex-colleague came back from holiday to find that some little "miscreant" (being very polite) had pulled his neighbour's hosepipe out, stuck it through the letterbox and turned the tap on. The neighbour was away, it was 48 hours before he returned and spotted it. My colleague then returned a week later to find a badly damaged house. The only good point was he wanted to sell and the house badly needed decorating! It took him about 3 months to get it all sorted I think - from seeing flood damaged properties before, I think one of the main factors is how far the water rises which affects what it penetrates and so how long it takes to dry the place out. In his case the water didn't get deep enough to affect the plasterwork on the internal walls too badly.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Oh Juju, what rotten news, good luck with it--- patience and tenacity is probably what is required.
Happy New Year, all the same.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Oh Juju - what a crappy new year.

I guess this is where lime plastered properties have the upper hand - the drying out is quicker and you don't need to hack off the plaster to 3 feet.

Hope it is sorted quickly and with minimum fuss.

 

[ChrisD]

Exactly the same thing happened to us last year. The insurance company spent 10 months trawling through their small print and asking endless questions about seemingly irrelevant circumstances. They finally found the smallest of get-out clauses and refused to pay. We have approached the Financial Ombudsman to try to get these spineless parasites to accept their responsibilities. In the meantime we have had to sort the work out ourselves and it has been unbelievably stressful and costly.You may detect a note of bitterness here - I hope your experience is different.

 

[Juju]

I guess time will tell whether we have a good insurance company or not... Luckily there's no possessions to claim for - it sounds like it's new ceilings, floors, redecorating, carpets etc in 4 rooms. There's about an inch or so of water but I guess it all takes time to dry out - the house was a bit damp anyway! It certainly will make it easier to sell assuming insurance pay up as it's not in great condition decoratively. The insurers knew the house was empty with occasional visits so that aspect shouldn't be a problem. But if they refuse to pay up then it's going to be a huge hassle and expensive - maybe we'll just dry it out and sell it as it is. Houses don't sell for much in that area anyway...
Juju

 

[JoceAndChris]

Poor Juju. Very bad luck indeed.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

ChrisD - are you happy to tell us who your insurer is? We often recommend good ones on here - whilst it is entirely possible you are the only person unhappy with your company, it is often helpful to know the others too.... :wink:

 

[ChrisD]

Sure, I'd be happy to suggest people avoid Allianz if you want insurance that works.

 

[Juju]

Apparently we're not covered by insurance - there is a small clause saying burst pipes aren't covered. Anyone want to buy a knock-down price bungalow in the north-east?! We're just going to clear it out and sell it as it is. Oh well, it could have been worse - if it had happened a few months ago, treasured photographs and other sentimental stuff could have been destroyed.

It just shows you need to read your small print! In case you want to avoid them it's Castle Cover insurance (for the over 50s) but I suppose the info was in their policy documents so it's not like they're trying to wheedle out of something.
Juju

 

[Moo]

There's a wise old saying to the effect that insurance covers you for absolutely everything, except what actually happens.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Well said Moo!

 

[Flyfisher]

Ouch! Rotten luck.

I would certainly discuss sale options with a few agents though. You'll never get a guarantee from them of course, but it might be worth getting a feel for how much the existing damage will knock off a likely sale price, or possibly more importantly how long it might prolong a sale. At least you could then take a view on whether it's worth doing any repairs before putting it on the market.

I do empathise though - I'm sure it's a problem you'd just rather do without.

 

[Penners]

I would certainly discuss sale options with a few agents

Wise words from Moo and FF above. I would certainly ask an estate agent (or three) for their valuations of the property with the problems unfixed and fixed. You might just find that the fixed-up value is considerably greater than the cost of the fixing up.

 

[Juju]

Yes we'll certainly get some advice from estate agents but our problem is that the house is 250 miles away so managing builders at a distance would be a pain and we don't have the money to do it up - especially now I've resigned from work! I think we'll get a clearer idea when we go up there and start clearing up - we've just got the information on the damage from Mr Juju's uncle and the neighbours at the moment. Nicely presented houses in that area still struggle to sell so there might be mileage in selling it as it is as people have lots of options then. It wasn't worth a lot even before the flood because it needed a new kitchen and bathroom. From an emotional point of view, it's upsetting that it's my late father-in-law's house - it brings back the sadness of last year when he passed away.
Juju

 

[Penners]

What a rotten shame.

 

[AMc]

I would recommend getting an estimate or two for the work.
A written estimate from a contractor takes a lot of the guess work out the equation for a buyer even if they don't actually do the work.
As the building trade is pretty slow you should be able to get an estimate and should a buyer take the house that builder will have that foot in the door for the work.

It would also help when you value the house without doing the repairs then a buyer tries to knock down your lower price by the cost of the work again.

 

[Flyfisher]

A very good point Lime, especially having some specific figures to hand during the sale price negotiations.

 

[Juju]

Yes very good idea about the quotes. Actually we now have a tiny glimmer of hope - the insurance company just phoned and asked us to get some estimates for the work so we think there's a slight possibility that they accept we were misled when we took the policy out. They said they were going to listen to recordings of the original policy discussion and it may be that we weren't told about the exclusions in which case maybe they're liable. We certainly don't remember being told that burst pipes weren't covered - that's always been our main concern with an empty house in a cold location! We told them very clearly the house would be empty apart from one weekend every 6 weeks and occasional checks by neighbours and John's uncle so we thought we had special empty house insurance which covered all the things that go wrong with an empty house - how naive we were!!!!
Juju