Advice on building insurance claims/loss of earnings etc

big bear

A bear on a mission!
Ok my H (ex) came round the other day to see the kids but was going to have a bath. He put the bath on, sat on the sofa & fell asleep. Needless to say the bath overflowed & went to the flat downstairs. It went into their electrics (fuse box) the bathroom, kitchen & hall ceilings.

I got an electrician out (Thurs) who said that it needed to dry out and he'd come back on Sunday. He came back on Sun & all the electrics worked except for the lights, so he said that they'd need to dry out till this morning. He came this morning & fixed the problem also putting in a complete new fuse box (it was old) which we didn't need to pay for but did.

I've spoke to the insurance dept as its the same company for the block of flats & they said that we can't claim for the electrician. We've paid £650 for the 2 call outs & todays work.

The family that live there had to move out of the flat as they had no electrics till Sunday. They had to go to Cheltenham to stay with family as they'd no one to stay with here.

The H had to take Friday off work and the lady had to cancel a cake decorating course on Sat as she was away.

I'm going to speak to them tomorrow but what realistically should we pay them for?

Should we pay loss of earnings? Can I say that as we paid for a fuse box that's it? Can they claim of their insurance?

I just want to know where I stand really before I speak to them.

Thanks in advance.
 
I'm not totally convinced you should have even paid for the electrician. I know that at work we had a leak from the flat upstairs, and we had to fix it, not them. Thry can claim on their insurance i think.

Either way, YOU should not pay - ex hubby should!
 
You shouldnt pay them anything, thats your Insurance companies job. Dont go offering them any money or anything, tell them youve contacted your ins company and give them the details so they can contact your insurers direct if necessary. Its up to your Insurers to decide if theyre due any compensation etc

We all have the same insurers as we're leaseholders. The insurance company said it has to go through them, as in they have to contact the insurance company & not us. We've already paid the electrician & I had to get the electrician but know I won't get that money back.

Its so difficult just before Christmas & my son's 3rd birthday but hey ho it could be a lot worse at least no one was hurt!!
 
Do you have your policy schedule & key features stating they (ins company) should contact an electrican etc in emergency?

Otherwise when you call them tomorrow I'd explain you have two young children & were concerned about their safety & couldn't wait so had to contact an electrican immediately. I'd also say you are a single parent etc. If you don't get your money back does H have any house insurance maybe you can get the money off him & he can claim on that, I forget how or what it's called but it's worth a try. It doesn't matter what time of year it is £650 is a lot of money to pay out if you don't need to.
 
Do you have accidental damage?Did you contact the insurance company before calling anyone out?

If I was in the flat below I would(sorry)make the flat above pay for it.Why should I claim off my insurers when it wasn't my fault.

I didn't contact the insurers before I just really wanted the electrician to check for safety as they have a wee girl downstairs so I just contacted electrician.

We'll pay their excess, we all have the same insurer.

It does cover accidental damage but they have to claim.
 
Michelle,

Do you mean Personal Liability? If ex-H has insurance of his own, he could have PL for accidental damage to your + neighbours property.
 
Do you have your policy schedule & key features stating they (ins company) should contact an electrican etc in emergency?

Otherwise when you call them tomorrow I'd explain you have two young children & were concerned about their safety & couldn't wait so had to contact an electrican immediately. I'd also say you are a single parent etc. If you don't get your money back does H have any house insurance maybe you can get the money off him & he can claim on that, I forget how or what it's called but it's worth a try. It doesn't matter what time of year it is £650 is a lot of money to pay out if you don't need to.

To be honest I didn't check on the policy who to contact. I was at work when I was trying to sort it on the phone with the girl downstairs.

H & I are on a trial separation so all our finances are still shared.
 
Michelle,

Do you mean Personal Liability? If ex-H has insurance of his own, he could have PL for accidental damage to your + neighbours property.

He doesn't have anything like that.
 
Michelle,

Do you mean Personal Liability? If ex-H has insurance of his own, he could have PL for accidental damage to your + neighbours property.

Of course I did, :D thank you, my memory isn't what it used to be, it's my hormones:D:D:D


To be honest I didn't check on the policy who to contact. I was at work when I was trying to sort it on the phone with the girl downstairs.

I'd mention that to them when you call tomorrow. Good luck
 
B.B. I can not offer any advice but wanted to give you a big hug...........
 
B.B. I can not offer any advice but wanted to give you a big hug...........

Thanks Granny, its just one thing after another at the moment. Hopefully they'll be reasonable tomorrow which I'm sure they will. It's just the loss of earnings etc..
 
BB don't offer them a thing just now. You're paying your ins premiums for this kind of thing. Take advice from the Insurers. It may be the excess will be covered another way (like it is in car claims). I know you're feeling guilty but just slow down and don't make any offers out of your own pocket this early. They don't appear to have suffered a great deal of financial hardship. You dont even know they had loss of earnings. He took the day off but did it cost him anything? I know circumstances like that at my work are classed as special leave its unlikely he actually lost a days pay. Yes she missed out on a cookery course but it's not the end of the world

Just wait see what the experts say x
 
BB don't offer them a thing just now. You're paying your ins premiums for this kind of thing. Take advice from the Insurers. It may be the excess will be covered another way (like it is in car claims). I know you're feeling guilty but just slow down and don't make any offers out of your own pocket this early. They don't appear to have suffered a great deal of financial hardship. You dont even know they had loss of earnings. He took the day off but did it cost him anything? I know circumstances like that at my work are classed as special leave its unlikely he actually lost a days pay. Yes she missed out on a cookery course but it's not the end of the world

Just wait see what the experts say x

He's an acting police sergeant & she was actually running the course so had to cancel 20 trainees. But I'll just see what she says tomorrow

Thanks for the advise X
 
In that case I assure you he didn't lose a penny in earnings!! I wouldn't be surprised if he got a days special leave

You might also find if that's her business shell also be covered for things like that. A friend of mine is self employed and had to cancel a show he was running. He had insurance which more than covered refunds etc in fact he actually ended up better off for the night at the end of it x
 
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