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OK. I have not been around this site for far far too long. I used to be on here daily at one time, but in recent months I have been trying to sort out the car crash that was my finances as a result of a (well-publicised on this site) period of unemployment and a massive fight against my mortgage providers to retain my home (and yes, the home straight is finally in sight in regard to my finances) !!
Anyway, I would like some opinions on the following:
In September last year, Welsh Water (for reasons only they know) increased the Water Pressure supplied to the housing estate I live on. The Water Pressure increase was such that the overflow on my water tank (in the roof) could not cope and subsequently ended up in water cascading down through the house. It totally devastated the house and much of our possessions. We were not alone in this. A multitude of properties were affected in the same way on the Estate, but even Welsh Water admitted that we were by far the worse affected.
Fortunately, Welsh Water admitted full liability for what happened. They also asked whether we wanted to claim directly off them or go through our Home Insurance and let them claim it back off Welsh Water. We went down the latter path of going through our Home Insurer as we deemed it would be far quicker to do get things sorted that way.
Now I have to give credit where credit is due. Our Home Insurers (Hiscox ) have been absolutely brilliant throughout the whole saga. They are an absolute pleasure to do deal with. Nothing is too much trouble for them. They may not be the cheapest, but when they advertise 'exceptional insurance', they really mean it in my experience.
Anyway, damage was estimated at £35000 to our property and we had to move out to enable our property to be renovated and restored. Hiscox paid the rental of the temporary property, removal fees etc etc. Finally, after 6 months out of our property, we were finally able to move back in to our house (which felt like moving back into a brand-new house). Between everything that Hiscox paid out, I would imagine that Welsh Water have been hit with a bill close on £50,000 from Hiscox.
However, despite the fact that our property has been fully restored to a new state, I do have the nagging feeling that we are selling ourselves short. The reason for this is the stress and upheaval we had to suffer during that 6 months. We had to move house (twice), take time off work to do the actual moves and also had the 'pleasure' of living in the rented property during that time with loads of boxes, full to the brim, of possessions that we did not deem important enough to require unpacking until we moved back to our property. Indeed, even after moving back to our own property. we still had weeks of slowly sifting through, and unpacking, loads and loads of boxes. It is now almost 7 weeks since we moved back to our own home, and we are now only just getting back to normality (now that we finally worked out where everything in the boxes originally came from !!).
My question is this. Would I be morally correct in demanding compensation from Welsh Water on top of everything else they either have, or will, have to pay out for the renovation of our house ?
As I have said previously, Hiscox were brilliant. They sorted everything out. Appointed Loss Adjusters to advise, a firm to dry the house out and recover what was salvageable, paid for a surveyor to over see the work, paid for all the work actually done, paid for the rented accommodation and also paid the excess utility bills at the rented accommodation (which was substantially larger than our own home), paid removal fees .... everything really. But I do have the feeling that we are short-changing ourselves. Not from Hiscox, but from the people who caused the damage in the first place - Welsh Water. Should I now proceed to pursue Welsh Water for compensation for all that has happened ?
It's a conundrum. Part of me is just happy to have my house back. Restored to feeling like a new home. But part of me also wants to punish Welsh Water for ruining my home in the first place and putting me and my family through 6 months of hell. What does everyone else think ?
Thanks in advance for any replies..... and I promise to come around the forums more often from now on !
Anyway, I would like some opinions on the following:
In September last year, Welsh Water (for reasons only they know) increased the Water Pressure supplied to the housing estate I live on. The Water Pressure increase was such that the overflow on my water tank (in the roof) could not cope and subsequently ended up in water cascading down through the house. It totally devastated the house and much of our possessions. We were not alone in this. A multitude of properties were affected in the same way on the Estate, but even Welsh Water admitted that we were by far the worse affected.
Fortunately, Welsh Water admitted full liability for what happened. They also asked whether we wanted to claim directly off them or go through our Home Insurance and let them claim it back off Welsh Water. We went down the latter path of going through our Home Insurer as we deemed it would be far quicker to do get things sorted that way.
Now I have to give credit where credit is due. Our Home Insurers (Hiscox ) have been absolutely brilliant throughout the whole saga. They are an absolute pleasure to do deal with. Nothing is too much trouble for them. They may not be the cheapest, but when they advertise 'exceptional insurance', they really mean it in my experience.
Anyway, damage was estimated at £35000 to our property and we had to move out to enable our property to be renovated and restored. Hiscox paid the rental of the temporary property, removal fees etc etc. Finally, after 6 months out of our property, we were finally able to move back in to our house (which felt like moving back into a brand-new house). Between everything that Hiscox paid out, I would imagine that Welsh Water have been hit with a bill close on £50,000 from Hiscox.
However, despite the fact that our property has been fully restored to a new state, I do have the nagging feeling that we are selling ourselves short. The reason for this is the stress and upheaval we had to suffer during that 6 months. We had to move house (twice), take time off work to do the actual moves and also had the 'pleasure' of living in the rented property during that time with loads of boxes, full to the brim, of possessions that we did not deem important enough to require unpacking until we moved back to our property. Indeed, even after moving back to our own property. we still had weeks of slowly sifting through, and unpacking, loads and loads of boxes. It is now almost 7 weeks since we moved back to our own home, and we are now only just getting back to normality (now that we finally worked out where everything in the boxes originally came from !!).
My question is this. Would I be morally correct in demanding compensation from Welsh Water on top of everything else they either have, or will, have to pay out for the renovation of our house ?
As I have said previously, Hiscox were brilliant. They sorted everything out. Appointed Loss Adjusters to advise, a firm to dry the house out and recover what was salvageable, paid for a surveyor to over see the work, paid for all the work actually done, paid for the rented accommodation and also paid the excess utility bills at the rented accommodation (which was substantially larger than our own home), paid removal fees .... everything really. But I do have the feeling that we are short-changing ourselves. Not from Hiscox, but from the people who caused the damage in the first place - Welsh Water. Should I now proceed to pursue Welsh Water for compensation for all that has happened ?
It's a conundrum. Part of me is just happy to have my house back. Restored to feeling like a new home. But part of me also wants to punish Welsh Water for ruining my home in the first place and putting me and my family through 6 months of hell. What does everyone else think ?
Thanks in advance for any replies..... and I promise to come around the forums more often from now on !
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