Axa refusing to act

[Ethel Street]

AXA have no obligation to explain anything to you about their policy cover because you are a third party and have no contractual relationship with them.  Your claim is against the gardener. If AXA's policy had insured the gardener then AXA, for practical reasons, would have dealt with you direct. But for whatever reason they have decided that their policy will not insure the gardener against your claim.

 

So AXA are correct that you will need to pursue the gardener directly for the damage to your property and he will have to pay it from his own pocket. If he disagrees then you would have to start a small claims court action and a judge would decide if the gardener was liable.

 

It's normal for insurers to ask for details of the damge you are claiming for before they decide whether it's covered by their policy. This hasn't disadvantaged you because you will need that information to make a claim directly against the gardener.

 

It's not correct that you would get new for old if AXA had agreed to pay the claim. As a third party claimant you'd get the same whether AXA paid it or the gardener pays direct - the used value.

 

Is the property that was in the lockup insured by you under your own household policy? Have you put in a claim for to your insurers? If it's covered by your policy then it's quite likely you would get paid 'new for old' value.

 

How to make a complaint to AXA is in the "Making a Complaint" section on this page ===>  Website Terms & Conditions | AXA Insurance  However, I'm pretty sure they'll just reply that they can only deal with complaints from customers and you aren't one. TBH I'm not sure what your complaint is? Haven't AXA simply decided their policy doesn't cover the gardener for this so you will have to sue the gardener direct? Only the gardener can challenge that and make complaints to AXA about it.

[Ethel Street]

8 minutes ago, Argyll said:

It may be a tricky one as he has his own gardening company as well as his dad. On the day he fell through the roof I was told it was his dads vans that were parked up not the sons. So I'm not sure if he was working for his own company or as an employee of his dads. I wrote to both by recorded post a few months ago but neither responded.

Can I make a claim a claim against both in a single action?

 

I'll let one of the small claims court experts answer that.  I'd have thought that if you know the name and address of the gardener who was on the roof and actually caused the damage issue proceedings against them. They can always ask the court to add or substitute other defendants. Wait and see what others advise.

 

Bear in mind that you are going to have to demonstrate that the gardener is legally liable to you for the damage caused, most likely that the gardener was negligent. Did you see it happen? Do you have witnesses or evidence about how the gardener came to fall through the roof?

[Ethel Street]

So the lock up had asbestos roofing panels?

 

And a specialist/qualified asbestos  removal company  said that as a result of the gardener putting his foot tthrough the asbestos roofing your property was contaminated by asbestos and had to be destroyed?

 

Who instructed the asbestos removal company to remove and destroy your property? The local council? Are they the landlord/owner of your flat and the lock up?

[Ethel Street]

1 hour ago, Argyll said:

How do I get prices for the damage to my property? Will I have to scour the internet looking for second hand prices? 

 Yes, basically that's what you have to do. In principle your claim is for what it would it cost you to replace them with second hand items of the same age and condition. 

 

Another way to approach it which may be easier or if you can't find second hand examples for sale is 'depreciated value. How long have you owned the item? How long would it be expected to last? What does a new one cost now? Then if an item would be expected to last 10 years, and you've had it 5 years, and new one would cost £250 now you could value it at 50% of its current new cost, ie £125 in my example. I appreciate that 'how long would it be expected to last?' can be a 'how long is a piece of string?' question often. All you can do is decide on something that most people (judges!) would consider a reasonable assumption. 

 

Valuing things for liability claims isn't an exact science! But generally speaking you only have to be able to provide a reasonable explanation as to why you came up with the value you are claiming, not prove it to the nearest penny.

 

Some things in your list like the strip light tubes I'm guessing were new and unused. In which case you should be OK to value them at their current cost to replace as new.

 

If something is an antique and repairable and wasn't destroyed you'd claim the full cost of repair and be expected to support that with a repairer's estimate/quotation.

[Ethel Street]

On 17/06/2021 at 14:23, Argyll said:

Also they're really only giving me second hand value. I was informed for insurance purposes it's new for old.

This was discussed earlier in the thread.

 

You don't get 'new for old' when making a third party claim. Only when you you are insuring things under your own policy. Third party claims are dealt with on an "indemnity basis",  ie their second hand value.

 

I recall you said that it wasn't AXA who told you they paid third party claims new for old but an unspecified "insurance specialist". Was that person advising you formally in a professional capacity? Or was it more of a "bloke in a pub" conversation?