Homeless, thank god for motorhome (1 Viewer)

[Carol]

So sorry to read this what a nightmare for you, Hope you can start to make sense of it with your insurance have to agree with @Snowbird don't be to quick to say you are able to live In your van, see what the insurance offer you, at the moment I am sure you are in shock. Good luck at getting it put back together as quickly as possible.

 

[Mr Ed]

Sorry to hear of your disaster and as it sounds like it will be some time before you are able to return to your home I suggest a call to the insurance loss adjuster before moving into your van. The cost to the insurance company of providing you with furnished temporary accommodation for that period of time can outstrip the actual repairs to the house. A deal should be done before you do anything.

Having been in similar position many years ago, you might be better off employing your own loss adjuster and charge the insurance company,then you know they will be on your side.All the best and hope you get through this awfull time soon.

 

[Baycott]

Glad there were no casualties.
Still a terrible thing to have happened. I hope the rebuild goes smoothly and you are back in your home soon

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[Snowbird]

Having been in similar position many years ago, you might be better off employing your own loss adjuster and charge the insurance company,then you know they will be on your side.All the best and hope you get through this awfull time soon.

I lost my home to the floods of 98 when the river came through my house at 3am. It took 12 months before the house was liveable and I found the insurance loss adjuster very good. The accommodation bill came to over £13000 so that is why I advised the OP to contact the loss adjuster. Regarding the contents I would advise a skip and the purchase of a small Dictaphone to record everything that you throw into it. Its easier to write it up afterwards than try to do it at the same time. I know this may sound very mercenary, but you have escaped with your most valuable possession, your life. Everything else is only things,and can in time be replaced. Do not be afraid to ask the insurance for interim payments to cover your immediate needs and when getting valuations of replacements be mindful that the adjuster will chip you on certain items. Best of luck with the rebuild and I hope everything turns out for the best.

 

[big map]

So sorry for you all. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

[TUCANO]

Sorry to hear of your loss but pleased to see that you are alive and well, take care.

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[Granjan]

So sorry to read about your problems, guess you are all in shock. Think you have had some good advice above, maybe photograph things too, as well as logging them as you dispose of them. Hope you can get sorted soon. As others have said at least you are all safe.

 

[Puddleduck]

So sorry for what has happened.

If we can help at all please let me know. I will message you.

 

[sedge]

First off - Sheet! - and {{{Hugs}}} for everyone.

Adjusters are actually quite helpful esp when it's 'bad' IYSWIM. Insurers may be their employer - but YOU are the Client!

You will have to price stuff as new - ALL your stuff even if you hated it, is insured ! and the value of replacing that item you wanted rid off anyway, helps balance out anything they beat you down on. Don't be in too much of a hurry to settle finally though - cos you'll be going Oh shit, we forgot (something) for ages afterwards. I discovered the other day the opposite - I found something I'd claimed for and had the money for. However - meanwhile we'd found the bill for a couple of things we hadn't even remembered let alone claimed for! Dictafone is a good idea - that way when you are right in the middle of doing something totally unrelated and suddenly think Oooh - you'll be able to say some words into it without stopping whatever.

When you see the prices of eg every day - let alone Hypnos - beds and 'normal good quality' - not even AO Axminster - carpet - not to mention stuff like curtain rails and hooks - you'll be gobsmacked, it's truly scary. I say this because we've recently been replacing furnishings etc well past their sell by dates just in the normal passage of time in our house - and the bed is one thing - of course we knew they'd gone up but we truly had no idea of the scale of it. And of course - even the overall dimensions of the rooms will most likely be a bit different to what they were, so a lot of it just can't be hurried. However insurers will need a ballpark figure as all this affects their bottom line so they need to place estimates on all claims asap for accounting purposes - which is why they are asking you to do it instead of viewing the aftermath themselves and running a professional eye over the obvious and making sufficient allowances for the rest. You are the only people who can help them to do this, and no-one else not even a Loss Assessor you employ yourself, can actually do this job for you - only make suggestions which may not be the correct ones ! Oh - and curtains! For what I call decent ones, wide and heavy enough material to 'hang' respectably - nowt 'reasonable' in Dunelm or anywhere else - if we liked the material and the weight - only available ready made if you have absolutely bog standard metric measurement windows. Not in this house, which isn't at all ancient - but in the 60's, we were still using Imperial. Take heed !

Good luck with it. Anything you get stuck with in terms of accessing something or even the prices of something - yell up - someone will know or have somewhere handy we can go and find out with our geographical spread.

And insurance-wise, any queries you don't want to yell from the rooftops, PM me - I might be able to help since 'insurance' was my entire working life. I'll do my best to, anyway.

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[Bailey58]

Dreadful thing to experience, it happened to us nearly 40 years ago but we and the kids and the dog got out and all we lost was "things" which can be replaced. Hope things begin to look better soon.

 

[Snowbird]

When my house was flooded in 98 I had no idea how much it would cost to replace the contents until I started totalling up. The final contents claim was close to £50K, and that was in 98 for a small house. Some of the stuff was salvageable as it was a flood as opposed to a fire. We just do not realise how much it costs to furnish a home all at one time as we build it up over a lifetime. Insurance companies say that the majority of houses are under insured for this reason.

 

[bigfoot]

I know this may seem like bolting the stable door,but it may be opportune advice for other members. Detail everything room by room and photograph it all keep this in a folder in a very safe place,or a safe or on the Cloud.
As for your experience Franke ,like the others have said, you saved the most important possession-your selves,just a pain having to wait. Have the fire service established the cause? Take care and look upon this as another opportunity.

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[mustaphapint]

What a terrible experience for you, but I'm pleased non-one was hurt. I hope you can get the insurance sorted out without too much stress.

 

[irnbru]

How awful for you. Must be terrible to experience something like this. I guess having the MH to go to is a blessing at the moment.
Hope everything gets sorted out ok.

 

[Robert Clark]

Sorry for your loss - hoping for a speedy resolution

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[Chris]

That's awful.

I hope things work out OK and it all gets fixed.

 

[ianthebuilder]

As long as you lot are all ok!! The cottages can all get rebuilt,,, good luck.. X

 

[Scout]

Im really sorry for what has happend to your property, (and you families) I cant begin to comprehend the nighmare you must be having.

good luck

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[parknride]

Glad you are all physically unhurt. What a terrible thing to happen. Your Motorhome must be a tiny comfort blanket. Good luck getting sorted out.

 

[LilacMoss]

So very sorry to hear your distressing news and sending big huggs to help keep your spirits up with the hope it all goes smoothly & quickly in getting fully resolved.

 

[scousebird]

Terrible news, but you are safe. Hope you get everything sorted without too much trouble.

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[alfandM]

Really sorry to read this,our wish for you is that the sun does not stop shining on you to give you continues strength and courage to see you through the task ahead, all our very Best Alf and Marianne.

 

[BobtheBass]

Like Sedge, all of my working life was in insurance (I was a loss adjuster for most of the time) so if you need any help don't hesitate to ask. Bear in mind that if you employ an assessor to help you the insurance company won't pay his bill, which will be a percentage of the final settlement figure. That's a claim preparation expense which isn't covered, but there are many things you can claim for under "alternative accommodation" which the loss adjuster will help you with. Although his bill is paid by the insurer he has to be fair and reasonable to both sides.

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

What a nightmare! Hope you get over the shock quickly and hopefully have some good time in the motorhome.

I'm not scared of spiders or anything that can't hurt me, but I've had a bit of a fear of thatched roofs since a classmates thatched house burnt down when I was at primary school. I'm also scared of really big chimneys on houses as it seems to be a great bit of drama in soaps and films to have a chimney come down through the roof and squash a couple of people!

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[Jenben]

So sorry to hear about your fire, so glad to hear that you were not injured.
It sounds as if there are some people on here with professional experience of the insurance industry. They may be able to advise you on negotiating your way through the process to getting you back into your home.

 

[jollyrodger]

Glad you got out OK some really good advice from posts
Hopefully things work out for the good in the end but a long process

 

[Cat53]

Oh @Frankie how awful for you. Once you've got your head round it and have stopped mourning for the things you have lost, look on it as a chance to put right all those things that niggled you in the house. So sorry though. But at least you weren't injured which is by far, the most important thing. I wish you well.

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[Jim+Ann]

Sorry to hear of your fire hope it can be sorted swiftly so you can return to your lovely home.

 

[Terry]

Only just seen this --What all the others have said plus take note of what Dave @Snowbird is saying-My mate got a new caravan paid for by insurance over the 18 mths he charged them rent for So ask them about accommodation costs I know it does not replace anything you have lost but at this time everything helps -good luck
terry

 

[Welsh girl]

So sorry to hear this. You must be devastated but at least you have the most precious thing. Your lives!!! Other things can be rebuilt.

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