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Chas

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My sister had a burst pipe over Christmas, insurance company's loss adjustor came out early in January and around the same time she appointed her own loss assessor. The claim has still not been settled. How long are claims taking before payments are issued?
 
Hi my better half's sister was damaged also and her claim was settlled about 4 weeks ago. She is with FBD.
 
Often the problem seems to be with the loss adjusters (who are often appointed from an independent firm) than the insurance companies themselves. With an increased workload over the past number of months, some claims are prioritised over others. She should contact the assessor and keep the pressure on, it is often he/she that shouts the loudest gets their claim sorted.


www.powerinsurances.ie
 
Thats the feedback i'm getting from her loss assessor. i.e the insurance company appointed loss adjustor has taken on way too much work. But since the claim was initiated on 29th December I thought it would have been resolved by now. All communication has been through her loss assessor.
 
Insurance slow to pay out

Turns out insurance have an issue with the low number of units of electricity used in the 2 months prior to claim. Any people out there living on their own could let me know how many units you use. Specifically anyone who uses gas for cooking and boiling kettle, gas fire and only uses electricity for lights, fridge, telly and central heating pump?
 
Chas said:
Turns out insurance have an issue with the low number of units of electricity used in the 2 months prior to claim. Any people out there living on their own could let me know how many units you use. Specifically anyone who uses gas for cooking and boiling kettle, gas fire and only uses electricity for lights, fridge, telly and central heating pump?
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I would very strongly suspect that the issue is that the insurers have concerns as to whether the property was occupied. On a standard household policy, there is normally an exclusion on the escape of water peril for damage occurring when the property has been unoccupied for a stated number of days prior to the escape of water. If the Loss Adjuster suspects that the property was unoccupied and that this exclusion may apply, he/she may ask for proof of sufficient electricty usage that is in keeping with normal occupancy of the property. Failure to demonstrate sufficient usage is a very strong indicator that there may be a breach of the occupancy clause under the escape of water peril.

Do an internet search on electricity usage for household item, light bulbs etc. There is loads of information on the net which should answer your question.
 
I think you are absolutely right, but we've made no secret of the fact my sister is not there all the time. She has been in UK on a contract since July (hence the low electric readings), but she returns on a regular basis for weekends and has flight bookings to prove such.

Unfortunately burst pipe happened over christmas, the heating had been on for a couple of weeks prior to leak - I believe it would have happened even had she been there, as the temperature dropped to at least -12C over christmas - but insulation in the loft prevented heat escaping into the roof space, even under the water tank was insulated!!, however the pipes were not, even though house is only 3 years old.

I've had a PM on this issue which I very much appreciate.
 
most insurance policies exclude indemnity if the property is unnoccupied for a period of 30 days. Unless you specifically took out a policy of regular unoocupancy they will probably decline the claim.
 
kkelliher said:
most insurance policies exclude indemnity if the property is unnoccupied for a period of 30 days. Unless you specifically took out a policy of regular unoocupancy they will probably decline the claim.
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The actual wording with most insurers is consecutive days.
The limit varies some have a 30 day limit AXA is 40 days Allianz is 60 days.

I am unaware of any insurer who provides a policy providing full household cover where a property is constantly unoccupied.
 
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