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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."
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.
