Emergency action in home insurance claim

[hunter27]

I had a call for help this morning from a friend who had just returned home after an overnight stay away. She said that a pipe had burst in upstairs bathroom overnight and water was pouring through the ceiling.
When I got there she had turned off the water but most of the downstairs carpets were soaked with water squelching up around your shoes, and the wall paper was peeling off the walls.
I found the problem was a burst flexible mains water hose under the toilet.
I replaced the pipe with copper so it's sorted now but when she rang the insurance co (this Friday morning) they said they would get someone to ring her back, after around 1/2 hour an accident claims company called and after a load of legalese talk said they would send a surveyor around on TUESDAY next week We have had to turn the electric off all the light fittings are dripping water, I said ring the insurers back and tell them you want an emergency team around today with aqua vacs and dehumidifiers which she did they then said a surveyor would ring back today.
I left then but an I expecting to much????
this is the first claim she has ever had.

pete

 

[Kent]

Name the insurer please

 

[the snooper]

Name the insurer please

name and shame against forum rules

 

[pedrobedro]

Ring the insurance and and the claims company to ask them if they will cover any temporary accommodation.

 

[hunter27]

I Have just heard that they have sent an electrician around and he has replaced some sockets and switches and said the electric can be left on now, so I guess its going to be Tuesday before a surveyor turns up
This is an '##AS' of an insurance company.
Pete

 

[armalites]

I do feel for your friend but this is the exact reason why we don't shop around every year trying to save £30, our cars are all with Direct Line, not the cheapest but you always talk to someone in the UK who knows what they are doing and things get sorted immediately. Contents are with NFU.

 

[Robotstar5]

I came home to similar in my first house on Christmas eve, a compression joint had come apart in the loft and flooded the house. I just turned off the water & electric and went to my parents house for Christmas .

The insurance assessor was nice, she asked about the electrics and I said I'm a sparky and had checked them so she said we'll claim £50 for that, which covered the excess.

 

[wristpin]

I do feel for your friend but this is the exact reason why we don't shop around every year trying to save £30, our cars are all with Direct Line, not the cheapest but you always talk to someone in the UK who knows what they are doing and things get sorted immediately. Contents are with NFU.

My son has had a nightmare experience with Direct Line . A leaking water main outside caused "rising damp" issues in a hitherto dry basement room and over a year later the claim has still not been resolved. Less than 15k from a reputable contractor but they are still faffing about .

 

[armalites]

We've only ever had fantatstic service from Direct Line but we don't have a house policy with them, that is with NFU.

 

[hunter27]

Update
The surveyor went around today 1 day sooner than previously arranged and has agreed to the replacement of the dining room ceiling, the bathroom floor tiles, all of the downstairs carpets and to sort out the decorating so perhaps not as bad as I first thought but I still expected a quicker response in an emergency at least to start the drying out process.
Pete

 

[Shox Dr]

All depends on the level of insurance, does it not?

 

[KemppiFrog]

Mate here, but resident in UK, had his Rangy lock solid. Nothing would get it to respond. Direct Line suggested he had it carried to UK, as they didn't speak French!!! Cost him a bundle + hassle. He had decent 6 month foreign cover too.

 

[ukracer]

I Have just heard that they have sent an electrician around and he has replaced some sockets and switches and said the electric can be left on now, so I guess its going to be Tuesday before a surveyor turns up
This is an '##AS' of an insurance company.
Pete

I do think that shopping around causes this problem. You would think an insurance company advertised by Michael winner would be a good one but IMHO they suck.

I stick with TSB at £61 per month but I know they have always paid out when the proverbial hit the fan...

 

[hunter27]

I do think that shopping around causes this problem. You would think an insurance company advertised by Michael winner would be a good one but IMHO they suck.

I stick with TSB at £61 per month but I know they have always paid out when the proverbial hit the fan...

I guess you never know how good or bad they are until you really need them.

I just expected a much faster response to minimize the damage caused, suck up as much water as possible and get in large dehumidifiers. Then to fix it at a later date when it has all dried out.

Still it looks like they are going to get it fixed.
Pete

 

[bigegg]

In reality, how much more £££ damage is likely to be caused, vs cost of emergency call outs?

You can bet that someone will have done the sums, and decided it's cheaper not to bother.