UK Landlord Forum / Life

Last October our flat flooded from above and it took a huge amount of effort to get the council to stem the flow which they finally did after 14 days.  There was a lot of damage and the tenant had to sleep in the sitting room until just before Christmas and the kitchen wasn't fully working until mid February.  It was a catalogue of frustration from beginning and still is ongoing.  The council admitted liability so I am claiming from their insurers - Zurich.  This is the first time I have made a claim so made a lot of calls to Zurich to make sure I was following correct procedure.  The claim is for £6300 including £2600 loss of rental income. I have kept detailed written records of the whole saga but failed to ask for every phone interaction to be written up and sent back to me as evidence.

First mistake was Zurich gave me the incorrect 16 digit case number which was only discovered about 6 week int the claim - at every call I made I quoted the number and they responded accordingly until one day they told me the case was now closed - that was when they discovered they had a different address and case to mine!  Argh!

At the beginning of the claim I asked about what I could claim for.  Repairs  - Yes -.  Loss of earnings/petrol  for myself due to constant attending flat  -No.  I asked about loss of rent as I had to give my tenants a reduced rent to keep them happy - It was incredibly disruptive and stressful for them and they are excellent tenants (rare I know).  I was told they would get back to me on that.  Which they did a few hours later with an affirmative answer and then gave me instructions on how to go about writing up a document for the tenants to sign regarding this - which I did. I was told that this document along with a copy of their AST should be sent in with other invoices when all repairs finished.

So just before Christmas the digit inaccuracy was discovered and I was appointed a Loss Adjuster to come and see the flat  - they came first week January when a lot of the repairs had been done - I now realise that they should have come early in the case - but thats not my fault.  They agreed to the repair costs but categorically said they don't cover Loss of Rent.  I responded with the conversation I had had with Zurich back in November. It is now mid June and my frustration is building to a head and I'm not sure where to direct it!

I've had 3 emails replied to with the 'I am on on my annual leave' response - or 'I will get on to it and reply by the end of the week'. Yesterday I tried calling and he was
'on a call' - so the very well trained receptionist I spoke to promised to get him to either call me back or send an email that day to let me know whats happening. Nothing!

I guess what I am asking you is  - do I really have to go through the grind of requesting copies of the telephone conversations  and is this normal Insurance procedure?  - I'm so damn fed up with the whole thing and the long term payout  of my cash is now quite painful as I thought it would only take a few months.   Car insurance seems like a doddle compared to this.

I would email and request details to make a formal complaint,making it clear you will  also refer it to the Ombudsman if not resolved promptly. This should get some response,but be prepared to follow through if it comes to it.The Ombudsman is not much use,but companies do not like being reported to them.

Thanks for that -I'll  probably wait til the end of the week then spend a happy weekend crafting my intentions to report.