Can anyone tell me please how to deal with my insurance company after the storms last week?

Question

I have been left with a gaping hole in my roof, the wind ripped my tiles away. I telephoned the insurance company immediately and was assured someone would be in touch the morning after before 11am. To cut a long story short, 4 phone calls over the week-end threatening them with legal action if they dont do something they are asking me to pay up-front for the damage and they will re-imburse me, their reason being they have a high-demand because of all the damage from the storm. I have refused this, its now 4 days and still nothing done (only a claim number) what can I do. also it takes an hour to get through to them every time I ring.

Answer 1

Contact the insurance ombudsman, or at the very least threaten to. I would suggest writing a short sharp letter and faxing it to them giving them so long to deal with your claim.
If you are insured with direct line then I would simply give up all hope.

Answer 2

First and foremost of all, do not pay up front!! They will do all they can to, either get out of paying you back, or only pay you a percentage of what you paid.
I have had my gut full of insurance people letting me down when I need them. They are a profit making business and will do their best not to pay you anything if they can get away with it. They promise you the earth when they are encouraging you to take out a policy with them, but when the chips are down, they squeeze out of what they have promised you by delving for back up in their ambiguous 'small print.'
I put an amount into a separate savings account to my usual finances, then there is money if I need it; plus my money is working for me and gaining interest.
If I was in your situation, I would patch the roof up as best I could and go to citizens advice beaureau. They will give you some sound advice and they may make contact with the insurance people on your behalf.
Let me know how you get on.
Good luck and all the best! :o)

Answer 3

We had problems over the weekend with our roof where tiles had come off. Our insurance said they were sending someone out within 2hrs. This then went to 6 then it was too dark to do anything. We rang them the next day , they said if we could get a builder then we could as they were too busy. The job has now been done by our own builder. They have sent me a clames form which I have to return with the invoice.And they will send a cheque.

Answer 4

pay up front and they MIGHT reimburse you. Insurance companies are always rubbish at a time like this.

If they have told you to pay up front, then go ahead but I am surprised at this. Normally they will tell you to pay up front for "whatever it takes to do a temporary repair to stop things from getting worse".

Insurance companies like to have a say in exactly WHO does the repair. They don't normally just tell you to go ahead without an assessor coming to see the work first. This is highly unusual.

One thing to be aware of. The assessor might try to say that your roof had not been properly maintained. They might also say that the repair is part of normal "maintenance", and reduce the final payout.

Answer 5

It seems reasonable that they would be extremely busy. Did they say they would reimburse you in full? That's a pretty good deal; they usually have to get several estimates before they'll approve a job.

Just get the offer in writing; then take care of it. Better than being without a roof!

Answer 6

Sometime roofiing companys will charge your insurance company for work they do on your house. Sometimes not all the time.

If they say they will re-imburse you I would get that in writting. To prove to them later that they are suppose to do it.

Answer 7

call them all the time

Answer 8

dont know...