At Sarrani, we know how overwhelming it can be to deal with an insurance claim while fitting it around your normal day-to-day life.
Especially, when you’re unclear about what work is involved, what the correct price should be, and what your insurance policy indeed covers.
But I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be that way.
In fact, it can be a stress-free process with the right guidance.
Now…
Although there are credible insurance companies out there, there are also a few “bad seeds” that don’t have your best interests at heart.
Unfortunately, one of our clients endured the latter and found herself faced with a grossly inadequate settlement offer from her insurers with only the bare minimum repairs included.
Fortunately, Sarrani—along with Steve Lazarus at the Claims Desk—managed to increase her initial small settlement by 300%.
Today, I’d like to share that story, so you’ll know it’s possible to get the home insurance claim settlement you deserve and are entitled to.
Join our monthly newsletter to get insider tips on how to navigate and fast track the approval of your claim with minimum effort. As a member, you’ll never have to settle for anything less than what you’re entitled to.
Here’s Ella’s Story…
A client of ours, let’s call her Ella, made a claim for cracks in her conservatory walls which she believed to be caused by subsidence. (This is a severe issue when the ground under your house collapses—potentially affecting your home’s structural safety and its resale value.)
When she noticed the cracks, Ella contacted her insurers who sent out a structural engineer to determine the cause and recommend appropriate action.
But when Ella was told about the minimal work her insurer was intending to carry out, she contacted Steve Lazarus, a loss assessor at The Claims Desk, for help.
Steve, who we work closely with, recommended another engineer to inspect the conservatory and the surrounding area.
And what the engineer found was quite alarming…
He not only spotted signs of an obvious cracked drain close to the damaged area, but he also highlighted several trees nearby that were likely to have had a significant influence on the conservatory walls.
Upon this discovery, the surveyor recommended that Ella’s insurer take soil samples to investigate BEFORE fixing the cracks.
But sadly, they didn’t take this vital piece of reporting into account…and insisted that they would only pay for patching up the drain and minimal repairs to the conservatory.
This is when Steve called us in for our opinion on the proposed settlement.
We drew up our own scope, allowing for both the drain and conservatory repairs and estimated the like-for-like expense to be at a much higher number than the figure proposed by Ella’s insurer
Of course, we weren’t trying to over-inflate the cost. On the contrary, we simply wanted Ella’s property to be fully restored back to its original, high standard.
We pointed out the numerous errors in the insurer’s figures and various items they had forgotten to include.
After a lot of back and forth, we were able to increase Ella’s home insurance claim settlement by 300%.
But even that still wasn’t enough for the work to be carried out properly.
And the insurer still wouldn’t accept that they needed to monitor the cracks after the drain had been repaired, to confirm the trees weren’t also having an impact before restoring the conservatory.
Regrettably, due to pressure from the insurance company, Ella decided to settle rather than wait for us to argue for the correct work to be agreed.
She allowed her insurer’s own contractors to complete the work based on the limited scope that had so far been approved.
It turned out…
Settling too soon was a blunder as the repairs backfired and the cracks reappeared.
Not only were the repairs carried out to an unacceptable standard, but the nearby trees were indeed found to be contributing to the subsidence.
This oversight meant the insurers had to pay TWICE—once for the initial works and then again to rectify the reappearing cracks and properly deal with the cause. On top of this, they had to pay Ella compensation for the additional inconvenience.
In the end, it took three years to complete the claim. Unfortunately, Ella’s insurer demonstrated a very short-sighted approach to keeping costs down.
By not considering the true extent of work needed from the outset or heeding the advice of professional building repair companies like ours, large amounts of time and money can be wasted.
It’s not about cutting corners.
It’s about using the expertise available to repair a building properly and prevent the problem from happening again.
Join our monthly newsletter to get insider tips on how to navigate and fast track the approval of your claim with minimum effort. As a member, you’ll never have to settle for anything less than what you are entitled to.
Dealing with insurance repairs is our area of expertise.
At Sarrani, we want to ensure all home insurance claims are dealt with fairly. So, before you accept your insurer’s assessment:
• Seek out the advice of a loss assessor or surveyor. Why? Because they can make the correct recommendations to your insurer. That’s a good start, which ensures ALL angles are covered and little room is left for problems.
• Ask for the cost breakdown from any company quoting to do your repair work. Check they are including like-for-like replacement of damaged items – and check that this is in your policy too. If it’s not, be sure to take out an insurance policy that does include it.
• Don’t rush to settle. Yes, it can be infuriating to wait for your insurers to approve your claim. But it’s worth holding out to ensure all the work your entitled to is included, and the right price is agreed.
Have any questions or need more information on how to get your home insurance claim to work for you? Please get in touch at info@sarrani.com or 020 3006 3126.
As you just read, dealing with insurance repairs can be distressing, time-consuming and an unnecessary pain you don’t need.
You have better, more important things to do in your life.
So why not hand over your home insurance claim to us?
We’ll deal and negotiate with your insurer on your behalf to ensure you receive all that you are entitled to.
We work with skilled loss assessors like Steve Lazarus, and top surveyors and tradespeople with extraordinary experience in the insurance industry that frankly, most general contractors don’t possess.
In other words, you’ll be part of our “inner circle” where you’ll avoid unfair costs, genuinely understand how insurance works and get access to vetted insurance specialists that are all on your side.
