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Not sure what to do here.
My neighbour's very large tree fell in high winds a few weeks ago causing substantial damage to my garden - trees and fence. From information in a surveyor's report I would estimate around £20,000 in damages, mainly the costs of replacing mature trees.
I checked my policy and it said that hedges and fences were not covered, but I assumed that they would claim for me against my neighbour's insurance. So I called them.
When I called my insurer they said that damage to hedges and fences was not covered (trees were not mentioned) and they would not raise a claim against my neighbour's insurer so I had to call them myself.
30-60 minutes later my insurer called me back. They said that due to the circumstances they would cover this damage, except for the clean up costs, and claim my excess back from my neighbours. I said I would speak to my neighbour's insurer first before opening a claim. But they opened a claim in their system for "impact": damage.
I could not get my neighbour's insurer on the phone so called my insurer back and said I would make the agreed claim. They arranged for a surveyor to come and see the damage.
The surveyor arrived and asked if it was covered, I said that my insurer had told me multiple times it was and so he wrote a report.
On the basis of what I had been told, I informed my neighbour that my insurer would cover the damages but asked him about the cost of the clean up. I also instructed a company that I planned to use to replace the damaged fence.
The surveyor wouldn't give me the full report of damages which I wanted to see. But they sent me a report including what the time and materials required and said I could get the numbers from the insurance company. The surveyor told me the insurance company had full costs that they could give me but they are now refusing to do so as it is "business sensitive".
When I called the insurance company they said that the damage was not covered by my policy. I said that they have proactively offered to cover the damage and I had agreed to this. They had confirmed this multiple times and I had acted on this information so that we now had a binding verbal contract. They said they were not covering it and I asked to raise a complaint.
They also said that instead they should have offered to cover the clean up costs but not the hedge and fences, so they would cover this. I said that I was not accepting this new offer at this time, although I reserved the right to do so and preferred the previously agreed offer. They simply closed the claim, noting I was not making a claim according to someone I have since spoken to. The claim has now been reopened.
Consistently I have asked them to simply claim from my neigbour's insurer but they refuse to do this. I have now given the damage reports to my neighbour and his insurer will only deal with my insurer who will not claim on my behalf. I have noted to them many times that if they simply make a third party claim then the issue goes away. They say that they will not make a third party claim for something they won't cover themselves.
Just to further complicate things. I could raise a legal claim against my neighbour but would have to argue negligence. Clearly this is an unfriendly thing to do but it may come to that and their insurance might pay out. They have spoken to their insurer who is paying their costs having agreed that the wind speed was over 55mph, so it was an official storm. Thus they have said they do not believe my neighbour is negligent. However, I have checked weather records and I am seeing a wind speed in the 40s, so they seem to be being very generous to my neighbour. I believe that I can argue negligence for various reasons but this will not be clear cut.
So various questions.
1.Having offered to cover this and me agreeing to their offer, do we have a verbal contract or can my insurer reread the policy and decide they are not covering it? I have a complaint in re this.
2.Why would my insurer not just claim against my neighbour's insurer? They exclude hedges and fences from impact claims even though these could well be third party liability. I understand them being excluded from storm damage. My neighbours insurer does not exclude this and would pay out.
3. The surveyor's report has costs to replace a large number of mature trees and a fence. Trees are not excluded from cover. When I pointed this out to my insurer it was met with "oh" Can they argue that my trees were a hedge if their surveyor has written up a report saying that trees need to be replaced.
My neighbour's very large tree fell in high winds a few weeks ago causing substantial damage to my garden - trees and fence. From information in a surveyor's report I would estimate around £20,000 in damages, mainly the costs of replacing mature trees.
I checked my policy and it said that hedges and fences were not covered, but I assumed that they would claim for me against my neighbour's insurance. So I called them.
When I called my insurer they said that damage to hedges and fences was not covered (trees were not mentioned) and they would not raise a claim against my neighbour's insurer so I had to call them myself.
30-60 minutes later my insurer called me back. They said that due to the circumstances they would cover this damage, except for the clean up costs, and claim my excess back from my neighbours. I said I would speak to my neighbour's insurer first before opening a claim. But they opened a claim in their system for "impact": damage.
I could not get my neighbour's insurer on the phone so called my insurer back and said I would make the agreed claim. They arranged for a surveyor to come and see the damage.
The surveyor arrived and asked if it was covered, I said that my insurer had told me multiple times it was and so he wrote a report.
On the basis of what I had been told, I informed my neighbour that my insurer would cover the damages but asked him about the cost of the clean up. I also instructed a company that I planned to use to replace the damaged fence.
The surveyor wouldn't give me the full report of damages which I wanted to see. But they sent me a report including what the time and materials required and said I could get the numbers from the insurance company. The surveyor told me the insurance company had full costs that they could give me but they are now refusing to do so as it is "business sensitive".
When I called the insurance company they said that the damage was not covered by my policy. I said that they have proactively offered to cover the damage and I had agreed to this. They had confirmed this multiple times and I had acted on this information so that we now had a binding verbal contract. They said they were not covering it and I asked to raise a complaint.
They also said that instead they should have offered to cover the clean up costs but not the hedge and fences, so they would cover this. I said that I was not accepting this new offer at this time, although I reserved the right to do so and preferred the previously agreed offer. They simply closed the claim, noting I was not making a claim according to someone I have since spoken to. The claim has now been reopened.
Consistently I have asked them to simply claim from my neigbour's insurer but they refuse to do this. I have now given the damage reports to my neighbour and his insurer will only deal with my insurer who will not claim on my behalf. I have noted to them many times that if they simply make a third party claim then the issue goes away. They say that they will not make a third party claim for something they won't cover themselves.
Just to further complicate things. I could raise a legal claim against my neighbour but would have to argue negligence. Clearly this is an unfriendly thing to do but it may come to that and their insurance might pay out. They have spoken to their insurer who is paying their costs having agreed that the wind speed was over 55mph, so it was an official storm. Thus they have said they do not believe my neighbour is negligent. However, I have checked weather records and I am seeing a wind speed in the 40s, so they seem to be being very generous to my neighbour. I believe that I can argue negligence for various reasons but this will not be clear cut.
So various questions.
1.Having offered to cover this and me agreeing to their offer, do we have a verbal contract or can my insurer reread the policy and decide they are not covering it? I have a complaint in re this.
2.Why would my insurer not just claim against my neighbour's insurer? They exclude hedges and fences from impact claims even though these could well be third party liability. I understand them being excluded from storm damage. My neighbours insurer does not exclude this and would pay out.
3. The surveyor's report has costs to replace a large number of mature trees and a fence. Trees are not excluded from cover. When I pointed this out to my insurer it was met with "oh" Can they argue that my trees were a hedge if their surveyor has written up a report saying that trees need to be replaced.
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