Flood, Rising Damp, House Insurance...

Tizzard

My house was flooded 2 years ago. My house insurance covered it. so that was grand. subsequently I had a problem with rising damp. the engineer was called (and paid) again and the areas were treated and thankfully all was covered by the one insuance claim.

And now I have rising damp again in the same areas. I paid €4461.00 to have these areas treated - which meant I should never have this problem again - regardless of the reason. But the company who treated them appears to have gone out of business. I am unable to contact them.

So I dont know where to go from here. I will probably have to pay an engineer to come and access the problem again for a start never mind the fee for the re-treatment.

Because the money I recieved from the Claim for the Flood was so high - I am reluctant to make another claim so soon. The claim was only finally settled less than a year ago - and it did not go entirely smoothly - in fact I in trouble financially for a long time because I had to pay the above feicker before the claim was settled.

Like everyone else at the moment - money is very very short. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Could I be "blacklisted" in any way for example for example? And if I had an even bigger problem down the road again with my house - maybye they would not pay at all?

Thank you in advance

antoinolachtnai

Unfortunately this sounds like it is a problem with the work that you had done on your house rather than a problem due to flooding or some other event. This is not the sort of problem the insurance covers, although it might depend on your policy.

Was there a particular product that was used for the treatment? The manufacturer might be of some help to you.

You need to get some different views about what needs to be done now to fix it. An engineer won't necessarily be the person with the specific expertise you need. If it is an old house, you need someone who really knows a lot about old houses.

Sorry to hear about your problems, hope it works out.

Tizzard

Thank you for taking the time to answer my post. You are right - it is an old house. I suspect there was a problem even before the house was flooded. I had only bought it a year before that. We (the guy who was handling my claim and I.....) blamed the initial rising damp on water lying under the house because of the flood. The insurance company were not entirely happy about that - but relented.

But - Do you mean that the problem could be caused by the materials the builder used to repair the rising damp problem? He is on the missing list - so I cant find out what he used.

useruser

I suggest you do some more research into what is actually happening. "Rising damp" is a phenomenon very often diagnosed by people who are most interested in selling you a costly solution to treat the condition. Damp is caused (obviously) by water so look for where the water is entering the building, it is not necessarily going to be the most obvious location as of course water can travel through porous materials. Look for leaking gutters, soil piled higher than floor level against outside walls, blocked sub-floor vents, cracks in external (impermeable/cement) render.

antoinolachtnai

Advice above is really good. What you really need is advice from someone honest and experienced. The problem could actually be simple to solve once you find the real cause.

The manufacturer might send someone knowledgeable out. That is why I suggest it. It is unlikely that it really is a problem with the product.

Tizzard

thank you both
- but I am a bit a disaster.

I could have a poke about - but the back of my house is hard to access (a large contributory factor to the whole problem I'll bet ....) and really I might as well be looking into a black hole - I will need someone who knows what they are doing to figure out the problem.

I dont even know where to go for someone "honest and experienced"

And I cant go to the manufactuer as the guy who did the work has "shot through" so I dont know what products he used.

I saw 2 good -albeit old - reviews for The Damp Store ( on this fourm and ask about money.) Thier service includes a free surveyor. I would imagine a company like this (as oppossed to the feicker I employed ) would not sell me an inappropriate soloution.

what do you think??????

useruser

Tizzard wrote: »

I could have a poke about - but the back of my house is hard to access (a large contributory factor to the whole problem I'll bet ....) and really I might as well be looking into a black hole - I will need someone who knows what they are doing to figure out the problem.

I saw 2 good -albeit old - reviews for The Damp Store ( on this fourm and ask about money.) Thier service includes a free surveyor. I would imagine a company like this (as oppossed to the feicker I employed ) would not sell me an inappropriate soloution.

I have no reason to doubt the impartiality of the damp store but really I suggest you would be better off to go to a surveyor or engineer and pay them to identify the problem rather than opting for a free service from a company that is interested in selling you a particular solution. Have a look first yourself for sources of damp on your walls, they may be obvious (leaking/blocked gutters, cracks in the walls, earth piled against the outside wall).