Tuesday 15 June 2021

Dripping mad

In my previous post I said "When you get to my ripe old age you realise that nothing much matters..." I haven't changed my mind about that but you can still be surprised. One often says "I've seen it all before, and, equally often, that is true; yes, I frequently use the claim that old age prevents me from doing things I really don't want to do and yes, my slightly crafty and ever so slightly dishonest wheeze gets the required result in that somebody kind and helpful will do that job for me.

But back to the surprise. I appear to have a leak behind the tiles in the new shower room, not a very heavy one but the sort that will eventually cause damage if it isn't rectified. I can hear the steady drip drip when I use the bathroom quietly and listen for it. I have never made a claim on the house and contents insurance and it came to me that perhaps this is a job they would pay for. There's nothing wrong in asking, after all.

Believe me, asking is fine but the reply astounded me. In my innocence I thought that insurance companies either turn you down or they send a workman to check the claim. Was it ever thus? First of all the insurance lady at the end of the phone line, who is so sweet and helpful when it's time to renew my policy was not at all nice now that I was asking for their money. After an exhaustive list of questions which I answered to the best of my ability she ungraciously accepted that my claim might - just might - be accepted but first there were several hurdles to overcome. First of all they'd have to send a building firm who would establish where the leak is. Following that they'd have to send a surveyor who would establish the extent of the job, the probable cost and determine whether the job would indeed constitute a genuine claim acceptable to the insurance company. I would have to pay the builders' fee (£300, the excess on my policy for "escape of water") upfront regardless of my claim being acceptable or not. The final insult was that the company to whom I pay my annual premium is not the company with whom I am insured but is underwritten by yet another company.

To recap, my relatively small claim involves two insurance companies (both well known and reputable), a building company representative who normally charges £800 for finding a leak but whose services I could have for the sum of £300 - I know where the leak is, I told them I know - and an official surveyor to say yay or nay. All want paying, by me, their hapless customer. And there is no guarantee that the claim will actually be accepted.

Can you blame me for erupting? In a nice and polite way, of course. I find that being calm and polite always pays, nobody is going to react kindly to a foul mouthed harridan. I had two subsequent phone calls from two different company employees - I didn't even bother to understand which company either of them represented - and both were most apologetic and assured me that I didn't have to pay anything up front, that they would simply deduct the excess from any services rendered at the final reckoning. Success! Would you have quietly paid over £300 before you even knew if your claim was valid? Lots of people probably will and do and kick themselves afterwards.

I still don't know how this will pan out. The builder is coming on Thursday, but I will most definitely not pay him £300. Come hell or high water (even if it's only dripping).




28 comments:

  1. Firmly, Clearly, No rudeness. Check. You got the job done. I have eased up on my lifelong immediate panic which I can now hold in a bands as I assess the real situation and not my fears about it. Thanks again for your nourishing conversation.

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  2. Well done. Dealing with such companies is not for the faint hearted.

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  3. Good luck.
    Sadly I suspect that many would have paid the money, or resigned themselves to having to pay for the entire job themselves.

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  4. I would have been dripping mad too...at the attitude of the rep. However, thanks Friko for helping me to stay firm with my new motto - respond, not react. Being older, female and alone I've at times found with household issues I've had to be far more assertive than feels natural for me. Hang on to that 300 pounds!

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  5. Little drips of water can cause so much damage. I wish you well in dealing with this problem! I hate the hoops these companies make us jump through!

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  6. I hope the problem is fixed correctly and efficiently. It seems these companies do all they can to make things difficult. Good for you for getting to the bottom of things.

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  7. Oh Friko - what a great nuisance - the drip is. I've never found insurance helpful ... I tend to just pay for things to be put right, as it saves the type of hassle you're having.

    But having said that ... it really is appalling and just so grossly unfair ... I do hope the people on Thursday are kind and helpful ... take care and all the best - with thoughts ... it's so debilitating, and mentally frustrating to put it mildly - stay safe. Hilary

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  8. I'm convinced that most insurance is useless except for real emergencies - like your house burns down. The system of excess charges means that minor repairs are simply not worthwhile. Same with car insurance fine if it's stolen or written off, but large claims are not worth the bother.

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  9. We should nothave to endure such aggravations. My daughter bought insurance to cover all appliances in her home, and then had to pay $@50 upfront when they came out to replace something. Sounds like a scam to me. Hope you problem is fixed. Good to hear from you again.

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  10. After some bad storms I had to have my roof replaced. I have paid for home insurance for 50 years and this was my first claim. Everything went along smoothly with both the contractor and the insurance adjuster and my only cost was my deductible. Then I got a renewal of my policy and the premium went up 30%. I called my broker who investigated why this happened and the answer was that I had a claim.

    Tthe sound of a drip, drip, drip should be a no brainer for an insurance company to approve as any delay will cause a bigger and more expensive fix. I am sorry that they are putting you through all this extra aggravation.

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  11. Impressed that you managed to stay nice and polite when they started telling you about the gang of inspectors whom you would have to pay. Not so sure I could have kept from getting a bit sharp with them. Sure hope all that restraint pays off and you are soon drip-less.

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  12. and this is why we do not carry homeowners insurance. we did for decades and then when money got tight during the 2008 recession we dropped it and every other thing not essential. the result of having insurance and not is that we aren't paying them once a year to deny any claim we might have. never had a claim when we had the insurance and have had no reason to make a claim without it. do you own your cottage? it sounds like the process for filing a claim in the UK is way more complicated than here.

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  13. Behind the tiles in the new shower room? Have you talked to the person who installed the new shower room ... just possibly that person could/should help you out. Just a thought.

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  14. Well done, you. Here's a question, though. If you just recently had this work done, shouldn't the person or company that did the work be responsible for a given period of time? A guarantee of so many months or years? It strikes me as though that would be my first call, unless it was out of warranty. (I've dealt with this issue that way on work done here and successfully.) In any event, some times you have to be the bad guy and complain -- and in this case, the "bad guy" was right. But do hold the builder to task, too, before you pay anything to anyone.

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  15. You did well in being firm but not rude. Way too many people either go one way (rudeness) or the other, meekly accepting whatever the person on the phone says.
    Hopefully, the builder can confirm what you know, and the surveyor will say yes.

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  16. Depending on how new your shower room is, my first call would be to the person or company who did the work. It should be their responsibility to make right what isn't working properly. I just had a bathtub replaced because the drain had rusted out, and there was a problem with the tile work and caulking around the spigot. The fellow came back, removed the tile, and fixed the problem.

    Anyway: insurance. The only policy I've made claims on were handled well, but my rates went up. The one thing I will make a claim for is a broken windshield. They're quite common here for a variety of reasons, and the hundred dollar deductible is far better than the full cost.

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  17. You are right in that being rude gets you nowhere. But being firm and elderly and maybe a bit teary might work at the time. I have had a few house repairs and now I am waiting for a painter to respond to painting the ceiling. He was eager at first contact, but the days go by and I have not heard anything.

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  18. Ouch! Bravo for standing up to insurance bureaucracy!

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  19. I find these hurdles so difficult and recently had to go through hoops to get credits for items ordered but not used as they weren't fit for purpose.

    Insurance is another kettle of fish and I often wonder at all the premiums paid out and even a tiny claim, like yours, can be an Everest of phonecalls and attitudes.

    Good luck with it all.

    XO
    WWW

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  20. This morning I made one of those phone calls that I'd put off for a couple of days giving my boiling blood time to cool down. It's not easy to stay polite and calm when you know an injustice has been served. I got a satisfactory outcome and I hope you do, too. Good luck on Thursday with the builder - and hang on that 300 pounds.

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  21. Ugh...It is a sad state of affairs when you can't trust an ordinary company that is in business to provide insurance to actually provide insurance, or assurance for that matter. Glad they had other employees call and reassure you.

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  22. Thank you for being a good example to all of us!!

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  23. Being rude (says Miss Manners) is always a good choice, even when we are itching to do otherwise.

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  24. To negotiate with an insurance company, you need to have strong nerves. You did it right Friko.

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  25. Insurance rarely worked in my favor yet it is mandatory to have for cars and homes. 13 years ago we had a bad house fire and the case has still to go to court as the insurance feels there might have been some issue of fraud. Who would cause a fire of a fully paid for house in great condition and a super area? They just needed an excuse not to pay. There was a handicapped grown son(Bundy) and a mother in the house so maybe one caused that fire, still to be proven.
    And 3 years ago we had a bad storm do the basements on the street of our little city house were all flooded. We were insured but in UK visiting at the time and our daughter was living at that house. She is family but insurance refused our claim because my hubby and I were not living there at that time. Family member like a daughter was not part of the policy. Who knew? So we got stuck once again with financial issue. After the total basement reno we put those up for sale. Seems previous floods on the street were known but kept quiet. We sold for a profit and in September 2019 we bought a recently built small house away from the city close to a small town and this fall we will be living out our retirement years there. Covid delayed our move but we used the place as a weekend escape from the busy city suburb where we have rented for the past 13 years. Can’t wait for or move. During Covid we added a finished basement for future live in help when time comes. It will be for Buddy once we pass on. He does not need-a place where Enders get neglected. Family and trust funds are in place. We just hope no wild storms create new insurance issues.
    Maybe the fire house one will get resolved before we pass on. And give us what we are owed? Hubby is now 81 and I am in mid seventies. We could use a bit of added funds and restore some fait in big insurance actually caring. Haha
    Let us just move pst Covid. We are fully vaccinated so hope all moves along well.

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  26. Good for you! Hope it goes well for you.

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