Paying builder before retention is paid by Insurance Company?

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onekeano

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I have a buy to let and we had a leak which caused some serious issues. My loss adjustor submitted a claim to the insurance company who made an offer. The builder went back and said they would need something like 50% more and eventually the sum was all agreed - including a figure for rentention untill the insurance company was satisfied everything was done as specified.

The builder finished on Friday and tells me he's sending photos etc to the loss adjustor tomorrow morning but he's looking for payment immediately. I want to make sure that I am not out of pocket - to be honest some of the work is not as good as expected but my view is that we should get the retention and then pay him.

I'm wondering what the norm is in these situations - the builder has been working hand in hand with the loss adjustor so from day 1 it's been clear this is subject to an insurance claim.

Any advice would be much appreciated because I've never had a claim before so this is new ground to me.

Roy
 
It's not fair not to pay the builder for work completed unless he agreed originally to wait for the insurance cheque, which most will do.

Insurance companies are very difficult and you might find they pay out less than the job costs, but that is not the builder's problem. It seems though in your case the figure has been agreed so you know you will get the money.

Not sure what you meant by retention, is it that the insurance company will hold some of the settlement until the loss adjustor or their expert certifies that everything is done correctly? If that is the case than you pay the builder for the job minus the retention.

Why are you unhappy with the work the builder did?
 
Not sure what you meant by retention, is it that the insurance company will hold some of the settlement until the loss adjustor or their expert certifies that everything is done correctly? If that is the case than you pay the builder for the job minus the retention. - that is correct, we have already paid >75% and intend to pay the balance but we want to ensure that the insurance company are satisfied and they WILL pay us the retention. If we pay the builder the balance and the insurance company refuse to pay us the retention getting the builder back could be problematic to say the least.

Why are you unhappy with the work the builder did? There are certainly aspects that we are not happy about ie. using substitute materials because originally specified materials were "not available" which in our view means that the finished article was not quite what we expected.
 
I'd explain then to the builder that he has to wait for the retention cheque as it it is dependant on his work being satisfactory. But you must do your best to hurry up the insurance company.

If something specified is not available than a substitute has to be found, did you agree with the substitute.
 
The claim allowed for "replacement of units" however the builder put in replacement doors (as opposed to the carcass) which is pretty inferior to what was offered by the insurance company. I don't really have a major hang up over this except for the fact that, in the event of a follow up inspection the insurance company may decide this is not as specified.

In relation to my hurrying up of the insurance company - I have not dealt directly with them - the loss adjustor has been liasing with them.

Roy
 
Nothing stopping you phoning the insurance company and seeing the state of play.
 
Hi onekeano, you do NOT have a loss ADJUSTER working for you. The loss adjuster is appointed by the insurer. Is it that you have a loss ASSESSOR working for you? Then he/she should liase asap with loss adjuster that agreement can be reached and retention paid.
 
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