Timeline for claim (flood)

fox65

Can anyone give me a time line for flood damage repair. Or normal protocal

Bit of background, renting close to the city and the downstairs was flooded. Apparently " dirty" water too. Lovely.
I'm renting and should be seeing the landlord today about it.

The landlord was over taking pictures for the insurance company. What kind of timeline am i looking at before it is in any liveable state? Is dependent on the land lord, how pro active they are? etc.
or the insurance company processing the claim, and if they pull the finger out?.

Any ideas or past experiences shared will be greatly appreciated.

I assume i am looking at a month type time?

caesar

Timeline:
Extremely difficult to say. It depends on how much damage was done and the approach taken by your landlord.

Protocol:
Assuming there is cover for flood on the policy the insurers will likely send out a loss adjuster (perhaps from a third party company) to inspect the damage, take photos, measurements etc.

Your landlord is required to take steps in the meantime to mitigate the damage and get estimates for the repair. He might appoint a loss assessor on his behalf to deal with the loss adjuster and/or insurance provider.

The loss adjuster will needs estimates, photos etc. to process the claim. Should they deem cover to be in place they will do their calculations and negotiation and make a recommendation for payment less the excess.

Once the loss adjuster has inspected the damage and your landlord gets the estimate there is nothing to stop them going ahead and repairing the damage, however your landlord may not have the money and thus be waiting on the pay-out.

Typically it is up to the landlord to organise the repairs though as far as I am aware some insurers have a clause where you are required to use their builders. They use this as a fraud prevention measure and to keep costs down - as far as I know.

Just so you know, claims handlers and loss adjusters are going to be up the walls due to this flooding so the process will take time and will depend on how proactive your landlord is. Flooding aside, they are fairly busy as is.

To add:
Since 2008 there have been a number of unprecedented weathers events in Ireland, particularly Dublin. This is taking its toll on the level of coverage and premiums. I expect flood cover will become non-existent should this keep up, that is to say it will become an un-insurable risk.

unclebill98

Fab post caesar. Just to add, a loss assessor can only make full findings when the place has fully dried.

So it's likely the will have two visits but if it's a small claim it can be only one.

fox65

That was a great reply.
I'll give you an update.
The house is split level, with the kitchen bathroom, living room and dining room on the lower level(half a level)
There were 10 cm of water in all these rooms.

The insurance guy came and said the water was contaminated, the kitchen will prob have to be ripped out, including fridge.

The landlord pushed the guy so she could get things moving! so dont be afraid to push them.

Also gave the landlord permission to start pulling out carpets and the like.

So the living room is not emptied out in the back yard.

The smell in the house is horrible. Smells like wet music festival field after a weekend of teenagers in there. A dank musty mucky smell.


I'm glad things are moving.
Thanks for the reply

broker2008

If you are renting, can you not just leave and go elsewhere ? I know that smell, I couldn't cope. As a matter of interest is the landlord getting you alternative accomodation?

fox65

Sorry for dragging this up, but some people might be interested.

There has been a dehumidifer in over the weekend, its still there.
The living room has been gutted and last i heard from the landlord, the kitchen was ment to go yesterday.

The landlord offered to let them know if we needed somewhere to stay but as far as i know noone has looked for this yet.

eobphotography

We are being moved into alternative accomodation while the work is being done by our land lord, insurance covering it, they did offer for us to move out immediatly but the damage was not too bad as the floors are wood and dried out quickly so it was easy to stay. However my landlord is getting the floors and kitchen replaced, so we will be out while the work is being done at no cost to us or the landlord. We were cheekily hoping we could take the opportunity to take a little holiday instead of staying in a hotel in the city, anyone else know if this is possible? I havent put it to the landlord yet!

peteb2

The only claim for alternative accomodation could be for a reasonable amount. If it goes throught a landlord's insurace policy i wouldnt fancy your chances on that.

His policy would however cover him for loss of rent during that period if that was applicable. So may be that might be a better route to try.