1/Notify Insurers asap
2/Appoint a good builder or qualified surveyor/Architect/Engineer
3/Dont appoint an unqualified or unregulated Assessor
4/Dont dispose of anything until insurers loss adjusters see it
5/Flood water is dangerous..lots of bacteria etc..use gloves etc
6/Get water sodden contents out of house..these retain moisture
7/Get electrican to isolate electrics
8/If you can get dehumidifiers, get them in asap
9/If house uninhabitable, avail of Alternative accommodation.. this will be covered
10/Get Insurers to give an interim payment to assist in meeting immediate costs
11/Ask the loss adjuster lots of questions..they are there to help and advise you.
12/be patient..you wont be back in your house before xmas if flooding serious
13/even if not directly affected by flood water..get furniture into storage asap
14/remove any valuable items if you move out of house
15/check with Loss adjuster before incurring any costs
16/ask the loss adjuster if it would be of benefit in appointing specialist restorers
17/Talk to your broker for cover details and claim advise
This list is not exhaustive and relates to serious flooding to a home. The most important thing is to remember that Insurers role is to assist you. Ask the Loss Adjuster whatever you need to know. An experienced Adjuster will know what needs to be done in individual cases and will have dealt with many cases of flooding in the past. Loss Adjusters are bound to deal with your loss under the terms and conditions of your policy. If you feel you need a loss assessor (appointed by policyholder rather than by insurers), whatever you do, DO NOT appoint somebody who is not registered by the financial regulator. If they are not registered, then they have not satisfied the regulator that they have the minimum level of competency to deal with your claim. Many assessors will not add any value to your claim and most builders will provide you with a better service. Assessors will also charge you for what your builder will do for free and remember that Assessors fee are NOT COVERED by your policy.
Hi Claimsman,
Whilst you are correct in stating that assessors fees are not covered insurers do pay for supervision of the works and the assessors fee is covered in that regard.
I agree with your point regarding unregistered assessors.
In any flood damage claim I have handled I have more they justified my fee because in most cases the insured does not know what they are covered for and in my experience adjusters tend not to be very forthcoming to an insured in respect of advise regarding what is covered.
As regards loss adjusters in my experience if I presented a claim to ten different adjusters I will end up with ten different settlement proposals.
Some are very good in explaining things some are not.
I don't think you can tell from the Golden Pages if they are qualified or not.
What does surprise me is there are a number of assessors who are opperating who are not regulated and the financial regulator has taken no steps to correct this.
As regards your comment about loss assessors rates being ridiclous across the board-that is a bit sweeping
Sadly the financial regularly has been found wanting in this regard.
If your rates are not ridiculous, then you are in a minority of one!! The comment that Assessors rates are ridiculous is in my professional opinion and on the basis of my extensive experience, fair comment and this can be verified by reference to any claims settled where assessors are involved.
I know of many loss assessors where the level of settlement in claims submitted by them is regularly less than 50/60% of what they are claiming! Infact, it is seldom the case in my experience that Loss Assessors claims settle for more than 70% of what they are claiming.How this can be considered as providing a professional service to the policyholder is beyond me.
Hopefully with the changes over the past few months this situation will improve but I try to be as fair as possible to both the insurer and the insured.
I have no interest in overstating the scope of works and I generally have no dificulty in agreeing the costs with loss adjusters.
Hi Ed,
My comments were not directed to you. I am pretty certain that i have seen your claims...and in fairness to you, you are in that minority of one. Sad part though, no matter how professional you are in your dealings, you are all tarred with the same brush. I can only imagine how frustrating that can be.
Sadly the financial regularly has been found wanting in this regard.
If your rates are not ridiculous, then you are in a minority of one!! The comment that Assessors rates are ridiculous is in my professional opinion and on the basis of my extensive experience, fair comment and this can be verified by reference to any claims settled where assessors are involved.
I know of many loss assessors where the level of settlement in claims submitted by them is regularly less than 50/60% of what they are claiming! Infact, it is seldom the case in my experience that Loss Assessors claims settle for more than 70% of what they are claiming.How this can be considered as providing a professional service to the policyholder is beyond me.
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