House Insurance Claim

Sunny76

Hi all,

I have a query in relation to claiming on your house insurance. My chimney was fire damaged and now flues are cracked and need replacing. At the moment it can't be used at all as flues have started to fall in and it is blocked. Thankfully I have been told my insurance will cover it (or most of it).

My query is, if I wanted to put in an insert stove and a flexi flue liner (is that what its called?)...can I do this using the insurance money? Or does it have to be replacing exactly what was in it before. I never made any kind of claim before so I genuinely don't know what is acceptable!

I never thought about a stove but now that the chimney needs work everyone is saying I should get them to put in a stove while they are at it.

Would really appreciate any advice as I don't want to do anything wrong.

Thanks 😊

Eggs For Dinner

You are entitled to have your chimney repaired to it's previous good condition. Any upgrade is known as betterment. With agreement from your insurer, they will compensate you for the cost of repairs and you make up the difference yourself

coylemj

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

You are entitled to have your chimney repaired to it's previous good condition. Any upgrade is known as betterment. With agreement from your insurer, they will compensate you for the cost of repairs and you make up the difference yourself

I don't believe the OP is trying to pull a stroke here. What he is asking is: can he spend the money on a different solution so he gets the amount of money which could have restored his chimney to it's previous condition but he spends the money on a modified solution to suit his new requirements?

I believe the answer depends on whether the insurance company will simply hand over cash based on an estimate, or will they wait to compensate him when he produces a receipt to show that he has restored things to the way they were before the fire?

Sunny76

Thank you both for your replies.

I am genuinely not trying to do anything underhanded.

I suppose I am wondering if it is OK, as Coylemj has stated, to simply put in something different. I don't think it will be better, just different.

I am not sure how the insurance company will make a payment so I will have to wait and see. I am happy to contact them and see if it is OK to do it this way and back the difference myself.

Thanks again!

q85dw7osi4lebg

Sunny76 wrote: »

Thank you both for your replies.

I am genuinely not trying to do anything underhanded.

I suppose I am wondering if it is OK, as Coylemj has stated, to simply put in something different. I don't think it will be better, just different.

I am not sure how the insurance company will make a payment so I will have to wait and see. I am happy to contact them and see if it is OK to do it this way and back the difference myself.

Thanks again!

House was burgled in January. Claimed off home insurance, they paid via cheque. So you can do what you like with the funds. There was no inspection prior to agreement.

Eggs For Dinner

coylemj wrote: »

I don't believe the OP is trying to pull a stroke here. What he is asking is: can he spend the money on a different solution so he gets the amount of money which could have restored his chimney to it's previous condition but he spends the money on a modified solution to suit his new requirements?

I believe the answer depends on whether the insurance company will simply hand over cash based on an estimate, or will they wait to compensate him when he produces a receipt to show that he has restored things to the way they were before the fire?

I never suggested that there was anything underhand about the proposal. I stated that if there was an additional cost to the proposed works, he had to make up the difference himself.

I also stated that he should agree what is proposed with his insurers. It is common practice now for insurers to make a part payment when a claim is agreed and retain a portion to be released when the repairs are completed. The final payment is released on receipt of pictures of the completed works and the final invoice. If they differ from the original documents supplied, it could cause delays.

Eggs For Dinner

Megan Slimy Worshiper wrote: »

House was burgled in January. Claimed off home insurance, they paid via cheque. So you can do what you like with the funds. There was no inspection prior to agreement.

A burglary is different to structural damage. Insurers will want to see that repairs have been properly effected to ensure a subsequent claim doesn't come in because the property wasn't reinstated to a sound condition. e.g. patching up a roof after a storm rather than full repair.

q85dw7osi4lebg

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

A burglary is different to structural damage. Insurers will want to see that repairs have been properly effected to ensure a subsequent claim doesn't come in because the property wasn't reinstated to a sound condition. e.g. patching up a roof after a storm rather than full repair.

Doors were smashed in too, would that be similar ? Needed new doors and locks. I was told if claim was below a certain amount it would be settled remotely.

Eggs For Dinner

Megan Slimy Worshiper wrote: »

Doors were smashed in too, would that be similar ? Needed new doors and locks. I was told if claim was below a certain amount it would be settled remotely.

Small claims are settled in house, as the cost of appointing a loss adjuster would be circa €300

MissTheDome

A number of years ago I was in a similar situation and terrified of another chimney fire TBH. So i discussed putting in a stove with the assessor when he came out. "Fire away" ... excuse the pun

Basically the stove can be controlled much better than an open fire, less risk for them. I feel safer and there's no constantly worry. Also my stove heats the whole house, it was madness to have a fire heating one room.
Talk to them first, it's an investment, i cant see it being a problem. It will certainly cost more than the insurance payment.

hungrypig

Sunny76 wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a query in relation to claiming on your house insurance. My chimney was fire damaged and now flues are cracked and need replacing. At the moment it can't be used at all as flues have started to fall in and it is blocked. Thankfully I have been told my insurance will cover it (or most of it).

My query is, if I wanted to put in an insert stove and a flexi flue liner (is that what its called?)...can I do this using the insurance money? Or does it have to be replacing exactly what was in it before. I never made any kind of claim before so I genuinely don't know what is acceptable!

I never thought about a stove but now that the chimney needs work everyone is saying I should get them to put in a stove while they are at it.

Would really appreciate any advice as I don't want to do anything wrong.

Thanks 😊

I did this. It depends on how your insurance company pays out. In our case the company offers two rates - 100% payment of costs (minus a small excess) to include all receipts for all repairs carried out. The second option is a reduced pay out ( around 85% of assessed damage) which you can do what you want with. We chose the second option and had enough money to buy a new stove, repair chimney and have stove fitted.