Hi edb49, AXA may be unwilling to provide you with the costings due to the fact they will get a discounted price using their own preferred supplier. This costings forms their "limit of liability". However, should you request a cash settlement, I would expect them to reveal this cost - please be warned it may be significantly less than your own contractor - use the Scope of Works (Schedule of Works) to compare what repairs have been proposed. Kind regards, Andy

Not particularly in agreement with this reply - see my comments in red; http://www.axainsurance.com/homeinsurance/policy-wording/policywording_43.pdf#page=24 Whereas Aviva state the following; http://www.aviva.co.uk/library/pdfs/home/NHDHG6080.pdf#page=2 However I will note that there are other finer points which may have a bearing on the insurance companies decision to change supplier/loss adjuster should you dispute their decision. Main one being the cost of a claim being referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) - I believe it's in the region of £500-600 but I may be wrong. 2) Ensure your claim is realistic and will stand up to scrutiny. Inflated claims are the reason that loss adjusters exist Inflated claims are not the only reason loss adjuster's exist. My first thought on the reason behind their existence would be to accurately and promptly estimate the cost of a claim in order to ensure a claim in "valued/reserved" at the correct amount. These figures feed back to Actuaries who in turn have an effect on the insurance companies calculation of premiums for the mass. 3) There is no such thing as a good company of loss adjusters. They earn their fees by how much you are not paid and have no interest whatsoever in delivering a service to you. You are not their customer, the insurance company is. As far as my knowledge goes for the insurance industry - please correct me if I am wrong - a loss adjuster is not paid by how much they "adjust" a claim but rather on a delegated scheme where the handling fee is previously agreed (unrelated to the claim at hand). However, a loss adjuster can also be on a "retained basis" where the agreed delegated authority fee is superseded by a hourly fee. The status of the arrangement (retained or delegated) are dependant on pre-agreed remit. 4) Record all correspondance, no matter how insignificant it may seem Agree nor disagree. 5) Make your requirements very clear at the onset. e.g. I want this claim settled within 28 days from todays date, I want the work carried out by an accredited company, I want the right of sign off that the work has been completed to my satisfaction, etc etc Whilst I agree you can state you want an accredited company (to which you will receive anyway) and do not believe you have the right to dictate how long a claim should take. The onus is on the insured to provide all documentation to support their claim (Onus of Proof - Anderson vs Norwich Union 1977). If the information is lacking then this can understandably delay the claim. Each claim is handled on it's own merits 6) Make it very clear that you will have no hesitation in escalating if your requirements are not met, and you must be prepared to do it. All insurance companies are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and are expected to follow the six outcomes of "Treating Customers Fairly". Outcome six basically states that insurers can not prevent customers from complaining. An insurance company is well aware that if a customer isn't satisfied/happy they will register a complaint so I do not believe bully tactics are required. Whilst a supplier/loss adjuster may not be regulated by the FSA, their appointment creates this regulation indirectly via the insurer. 7) Be assertive, not aggressive. Aggression will only give them ammunition. Assertiveness and aggression can both work against your favour - "behaviour breeds behaviour" . Be honest, co-operative and, to a degree, patient. These favourable traits will inspire willingness to assist by the other party (insurer/loss adjuster/supplier etc.). Although unrelated to the above, I will, for ease of reference, quote the functions of loss adjusters and loss assessors from the Chartered Institure of Insurance - Certificate in Insurance study text booklet (IF1 Insurance, Legal and Regulatory); Kind regards, Andy

Any update on this one?

I'm glad to see a lot of people come on her and be positive! StrawberryFieldFairies - with regard to your query surrounding the jewellery. The policy will/should state that the Insurer will settle at the price they can source the item. IF the jewellery is not able to be sourced then the Insurer has to give you full retail price.. Quote from FOS website: "Policyholders should be allowed to choose where they purchase a replacement and they are entitled to a cash settlement if they cannot find an acceptable alternative. In such circumstances, we would not regard it as reasonable for the insurer to make a deduction from the cash settlement to represent any discount it would have got if the policyholder had bought a replacement from one of the insurer’s nominated suppliers. Nor would it necessarily be appropriate for the insurer to offer vouchers to the policyholder. If the option of replacement is not available, then the only way in which the insurer can indemnify a claimant is by a cash settlement." With regards to Very Mad Person's comment surrounding Barclays telling him/her that Ival would settle the claim within 48 hours of intimation of the claim. I think he/she misunderstood what they were being told...Contact is within 48 hours..Not settlement....

Speak to them on Monday and advise them you are considering going elsewhere as they are failing to meet your requirements.

Call them on Monday and request that they issue you a formal repudiation letter. This will confirm the reason they are declining the claim and give you more chance to challenge their decision. Upon receipt of the letter, I would appreciate if you could put the body of the text on here so I can try help you.

I would hope that Crawfords have asked these questions already.... Has Crawfords sent you a repudiation letter?

Jansus is right in saying that the ceiling may have become saturated and consequently collapsed. The insurance company is required to confirm the cause of damage is not covered by the policy but I will presume that the Incident Manager would have asked the appropriate questions i.e. "Is there any evidence of a water on the collapsed plaster?", "How old is the property?", "Has anyone done any work in this area within the past year?", etc.

Thanks for responding to my questions! Although, I have a few more... 1) Is the sofa part of a suite? 2) Why did you dispose of the trousers? 3) Have you still got the sofa? 4) Have you discussed the possibility of someone attending the property? 5) The TV claim, when was it?

I recommend speaking to Tadley Services Group. They specialise in restoration works and maybe able to assist you here: TSG | Cleaning & Restoration | Soft Furnishings

I agree with Mossycat. Please remember that insurance is not a maintenance contract. Could you confirm what insurance policy your mother has so I can read the wording.

I don't think it is right of the Insurer to refuse to cover the rest of the property. They have multiple options to consider i.e.: Exclude cover to that section of the home (until a report is provided) Exclude storm damage to that section of the property or the whole property (until a report is provided) Exclude all wet perils on that section of the property or the whole property (until a report is provided) I take it this was the only aspect which is affecting the underwriters decision? Was a pre-purchase survey completed?

I don't think this will be very successful... In order for me to get a full understanding, could you please answer the following questions?: 1) Has Crawfords attended the property? 2) Has a restoration company, such as Tadleys Group, been to your property? 3) How old is the sofa? 4) How much was it when you purchased it? 5) What claims have you had in the previous 5 years? 6) When was this claim submitted? (i.e. before, during or after the carpet claim) 7) When was the trousers disposed of? (i.e before or after the claim was reported) 8 ) What type of settlement are you looking for? (i.e. Repair, Replacement or Cash Settlement) I don't think anyone can give you an effective answer without knowing the full facts. Well unless you want someone telling you to go to court or put in a formal written complaint..which is the normal answer you get on here.

With regard to the value of repairs, I would agree that the firm is not a loss adjuster. After a quick search on Google, I think I found them: Survey Services As you can see above, they are surveyors. I would recommend either Munters, Rainbow or Chemdry for the restoration works.

I agree with LemonTwist. With regard to an L/A getting a bonus from "adjusting" the loss, this is misconception from the wrongly titled name. The name should be Loss Assessor. A Loss Adjusting firm is paid per hour for their services. Although they maybe expensive to use, they can handle all aspects of a claim (i.e Legal, Recovery (Subrogation), Fraud etc.) and thus end up being more beneficial then training and putting a whole claims unit through courses (i.e. CII and ACII).