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When Mr Singh & his family suffered a fire in his bathroom at home, the resultant damage left the home uninhabitable and the family essentially homeless. The smoke damage was serious but the effects of the water from fireman’s hoses exacerbated the situation.
"I spoke to some contacts at the temple to see what support we had in place for people in our situation. They put me in touch with members of the community that had suffered something similar and Oakleafe were mentioned to me. I was in a desperate situation being told a dozen different things by people around me so I took the plunge and made the call. One of their team arrived the same day and took control of the situation."
This is a common problem with policy holders failing to present the claim in the correct manner. It is not the insurance company’s responsibility to prepare and present the claim. In fact in essence you are not insured until you prove there is an insured peril and insurers accept liability. In this case we needed to prove it was a leak and not rising damp that was the issue.
Organised alternative accommodation
Arranged for mitigation works to be undertaken
Engaged drying equipment to be installed
Assigned decontamination teams to clean the property
Appointed Chartered surveyors to scope damage
Handled all meetings and negotiations
Collated and presented the contents claim
Agreed costs for Mr Singh’s builder to undertake repairs
"My family is the most important thing in the world to me. Oakleafe put them first. All I had to do was concentrate on making sure they were ok and ensuring our lives could continue as normal as possible. This would not have been possible without Oakleafe. They took away all the stress and pressure in dealing with the claim. They did all the meetings, all the paper work and had access to specialists that I wouldn’t have known where to start. I believe they got me my full entitlement which I am convinced was double what I would have been able to manage myself."
Mr & Mrs Cochrane began to realise that the majority of the walls on the ground floor had paint bubbling at low level and mould growing in various places. Breaking point came when a socket shorted that Mrs Cochrane was using and tripped the electrics out. Mr Cochrane got a local contractor in who advised that it may be worth ringing his insurance company.
"I knew that I was going to have problems straight away with insurers. The person at the call centre tried everything possible to discourage me from lodging the claim. At one point telling me I wasn’t insured. Through persistence I managed to get a loss adjuster to come out. He was only here for 5 minutes and then a few days later I received a letter through the post telling us that the claim had been declined because it was ‘probably’ rising damp. My wife called around for an insurance assessor and found Oakleafe."
This is a common problem with policy holders failing to present the claim in the correct manner. It is not the insurance company’s responsibility to prepare and present the claim. In fact in essence you are not insured until you prove there is an insured peril and insurers accept liability. In this case we needed to prove it was a leak and not rising damp that was the issue.
Handled all communications and meetings
Appointed infra-red thermography experts to identify leak and location
Met the adjuster back on site and negotiated a phased approach
Arranged alternative accommodation
Had the ground floor put into storage for the duration
Organised strip out and drying works
Engaged a Chartered Surveyor to scope the damage
Arranged for insurance approved contractors to complete works
"The expertise these guys at Oakleafe have is something that must have taken decades to attain. Within 1 hour of meeting the loss adjuster back on site the claim was agreed and we were able to move to an alternative house whilst the works were undertaken. I never imagined that making a claim was going to be this difficult. If I ever have to make another claim, or my friends or family, even a small one, I’ll be calling Oakleafe before I call the Insurance Company."
This salubrious property in the heart of the docklands was suffering from a foul smelling ingression of water into several rooms in the property. The claim had been ongoing for 2 years and despite the best efforts of the managing agent to sort the problem, the process had stalled.
"I did an internet search and Oakleafe Claims came up as one of several claims handling companies local to me. I called a few others before but once I had spoken to Oakleafe I realised that they were the real deal. They immediately took control of the situation. Oakleafe brought in specialist leak detection people who found that a sewage soil stack had been leaking. Within 24hrs it was agreed with insurers to split the claim into 2 phases – stripping & reinstatement. I was in alternative accommodation round the corner the next day as the property was hazardous to my health."
Arranged Trace & Access Works to locate source of leak
Had the property swabbed and tested for health hazards
Arranged alternative accomodation
Had specialist decontamination team strip clean the property
Engaged a Chartered Surveyor to quantify the damage
Obtained a large cash settlement
"I was able to be comfortable in another property whilst the necessary remedial works were undertaken. My brother is a tradesman and I wanted him to do the repair works so Oakleafe got me a cash lump sum which not only paid him for the works but gave me the opportunity to change a few things I wanted to do for a while. I can’t thank them enough. It was the perfect service. The claim went from nothing happening to being moved out and everything done for me in a very short time. It was like a whirlwind of activity. I was pulling my hair out before they got involved. I am extremely grateful to them for all they did."
Water damage to the kitchen of Mr Kinch’s cottage property had become visible over a number of months. When discussing the claim he had mistakenly used the word ‘dampness’ to the insurance loss adjuster on the day of his visit so insurers repudiated his claim (kicked it out) as damp is not an insured peril. They stated it was probably rising damp. They would not budge.
"I found Oakleafe online and they visited the next day. They had a technician with them who took a sample of the affected wall plaster and tested this for traces of sulphates and nitrates present in ground water. Instead traces of chlorine were found and this is linked to potable water which showed the damage was probably a leak from a cold water pipe."
Tested the area to determine the type of water damage
Undertook a trace and access to locate the leaking pipe
Prepared and presented a quantified scope for reinstatement
Dried the property out with specialist equipment
Handled all calls and meetings with the Loss Adjuster
Arranged for contractors to repair the damage
"What can I say? I had no claim when they arrived yet they had the expertise to prove it wasn’t rising damp and as a result I got a 21k settlement PLUS a food allowance as I wasn’t able to use the kitchen for the duration of the works. The team were fantastic and I particularly liked the Trackpro online system which I could log into when at work and see real time updates and pictures of the progress."
A fault with the fuse board led to a fire in Mr & Mrs C family home under the stairs. The fire brigade reacted quickly and extinguished the flames but there was significant smoke and water damage, making the house inhabitable.
Very quickly Mr C realised that the Insurance claim was too complicated for him. Despite looking at others, Mr C opted for Oakleafe after meeting with us, to handle the entire process.
"Oakleafe were involved from the start- they immediately got our family in accommodation and obtained an emergency payment from insurers. We literally had nowhere to stay after the fire and no clothes."
Organised & agreed alternative accommodation for Mr Cetin & his family fully furnished.
Engaged specialist in-house contractors to make the property safe & carry out decontamination works and
install drying equipment. Assessed, scoped the damage & agreed the
reinstatement with insurers, compiling lists of all damaged contents and their values.
Appointed a Chartered Surveyor to oversee the building works to completion to look after Mr Cetin’s interests.
Mr & Mrs C received everything they were entitled to from Insurers & their house was restored to better than pre-loss condition. They were also able to make a
number of alterations to their home which they had always hoped to do, including a loft conversion.
"Oakleafe battled the insurers and we received full settlement. There is no way we could have done what they did. We are not aggressive people and found the whole Insurance Claim process intimidating. I wholeheartedly recommend Oakleafe – the proof certainly is in the pudding!"
Mr & Mrs B had became the victims of a horrific flood and it resulted in extensive damage to their home. Leaving their kitchen flooring soaked with moisture and thus resulting in kitchen reinstatement.
Mrs Bishop advised that they both work full time and would not have been able to cope with the stress associated with handling an insurance claim and hence why when recommended from a friend of our services they had no hesitation in appointing us. They had the following to say about our services:
"A friend suggested working with Oakleafe Claims after discovering the horrid time we were having with our insurance company after a flood. Oakleafe Claims responded to us as soon as we enquired and offered us their support with the reassurance of their expertise. Grant Williams was assigned to our claim and from thereafter kept us updated through the user-friendly portal Trackpro and through messages - he offered reassurance at a time when our insurance company was causing us great distress. As we both work full-time we did not have time to deal with insurers directly, Grant and the Oakleafe Claims team took all this off our hands and dealt with them directly. They made a horrid situation bearable knowing that their time, knowledge and expertise was focussed on getting what we needed from insurers".
Our vast panel of specialists was appointed to conduct further investigations to grasp the true extent of the damage suffered.
The evidence was prepared, reviewed and presented in a clear and concise manner to the insurance company in order to avoid any dispute as to what had been presented and the importance of each piece of evidence.
Back and forth discussions with the insurance company led to a scope of works being presented and approved on a like for like basis.
Mrs B received 3X more than what was initially offered from the insurance company and as a result of all the delays caused, we had got the excess refunded to our clients from the insurance company as compensation for the stress caused.
"Through the team’s continued efforts and expert knowledge we finally received an offer from insurers 3X the original offer and in line with what we needed to do the work properly. We cannot recommend them enough. we hope we never have a situation that means we need their services again but would not hesitate to get them on board if we did. A 5- star service!"
If you have been declined while trying to claim on your domestic or commercial insurance, we can help. We can also help with professional services, for example, Brokers, VAR Valuations and Managing Agents.
