Hi All,

My property was flooded a few weeks ago. Home insurance policy is oaying out but I have received a really low settlement offer, cut by a third. Can I reject it?

Thanks

Yes you can reject it, you need to find out why they have reduced your settlement by such a large amount.

skankzzzz

Nornally claims are settled on a new for old basis on everything apart from clothing and linen where age and condition are taken into account.

If you were underinsured, the Insurers may have cut the claim by the level you were underinsured by. Your Insurance company should have told you if this was the case.

You should ask the Insurers for a full breakdown of the settlement figure, so that you can see what they have allowed against each claimed item. If you are then not happy, you can go back with the relevant evidence to support an increased value.

If the Insurers are replacing items using their suppliers, the settlement amount may differ from the original claim. Insurers can often obtain substantial discounts and this may account for the reduced amount.

I would suggest that you ask the Insurers for an explanation.

Huckster

Thanks for the info, not really a case of being underinsured as having managed to get most of the stuff rescued, the claim is only for £6200. They have offered £4000 but I will request a breakdown and see what they come up with.

I obviously don't have all the facts etc. but its my guess that your insurers are trying to get you to accept their lowest offer.

If you were fully insured and the £6200 represents the the replacement cost of the items ( except for clothing etc as mentioned in an earlier post) and /or cleaning repairing the rescued items, my advice would be to stick out for the £6200.

Ian

Is it standard practice for them to offer a low amount expecting us to try and haggle??

Thanks

With some insurance companies it is their practice to try and get away with as low an offer as they think they can get away with never mind the haggleing.

All it took was an email and they bumped it up to £5000, thanks for the advice...!

Skankzzz


This may sound awful from an Insurers point of view, but some will not make the correct/fair offer, until you have been back a couple of times.

You should accept the £5000 but only partially. The acceptance of the offer being conditional on the £5000 being explained and further explanation/consideration of the remaining value of the original claimed amount. If you ask for further information so that you can decide whether or not to ask the FOS to review, the Insurers may come back with a further offer. The Insurers are charged £450 by the FOS if you complained to them, so the chances are that they won't want you to do that.


Huckster