How long should a flood insurance claim take?

Chris N asked this but didn't seem to get a full answer. Another guy had 6 months for a fire claim. Why does it take so long?

The problem with a flood claim is the difficulty in quantifying the loss.

1) The house has to be dried - this will take several weeks and a large amount of electricity.

2) Then the house will probably have to be gutted and cleaned - this will take quite a while.

3) The the house will have to be completely decorated, appliances bought and installed and of course new furnishings/ goods purchased.

4) The insurance company should be able to quantify most of the household costs and come to an agreement quite quickly - but it will be quite a while before the customer can get to buy the goods. The loss assessor should have been out quickly to arrange the drying out etc.

5) Also of course there may be two insurers - one for the buildings and one for the contents - so two sets of negotiations.

6) There is also the effect of alternate accommodation.

Most of the expenses mentioned should not involve the policyholder as the insurer will deal direct with the contractors and pay them for the work.

Customers who feel that the insurers are dragging their feet can raise complaints against them -which have to be dealt with expeditiously.

For full details you can refer to the FSA handbook http://fsahandbook.info/FSA/html/handbook/ICOB/7 which tells insurers how to handle claims and you can use it as a basis of complaint making (this changes Jan 6th to a principles based system ie treating customers fairly is the golden rule and insurers do not have to obey the rules listed provided they treat their customers fairly.)

Sorry. I'm out of my depth here.mmmmmm!

I think it takes forever. In the Flood earlier this year all the houses across from me got flooded. 99% are still living in the upstairs rooms and are still waiting on the insurance to sort out. 2 did not have any.

hi we had flood damage in June this year which ruined our kitchen and living room.....we had a visit from the assessors and have been told that work to repair and replace the damage should take place at the end of Jan 08

There is no set time limit on a claim. There are too many factors involved in this type of claim for me to go into.

Chris N - just needs to call his adjuster and touch base with him about it.

6-8 weeks after the assessor has been .repairs could take 12 months .we were flooded out where i am in June and peeps wont get back in till July2008.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment:

Archive: Forum -Forum -Finance - Links - 1 - 2 - RSS - All RSS Feeds
The Causes and the Results. 0.014
Copyright (c) 2011 Financial Crisis Sunday, May 27, 2012 - Terms of use - Privacy Policy