Janet’s bathroom flooded and she didn’t think her insurer sent a plumber out quickly enough, so she complained to us.
What happened
Janet was away for the weekend. She returned home to find that her toilet had overflowed and flooded her bathroom. She reported this to her insurer straight away but they couldn’t send a plumber out until later that evening. Janet complained that she had to wait too long for the plumber. She said this caused further damage, which could have been avoided.
What we said
We looked to see if the plumber could have arrived sooner. We also looked at the plumber’s inspection report and photos to see:
- what happened
- how bad the damage was
We listened to the call when Janet first reported the claim. This was to check if the insurer:
- told her about the delay
- offered any alternative solutions - like telling her to call a local plumber and claim the money back
We asked Janet what further damage had happened because of the delay. We asked for a breakdown of the repairs and what they cost her.
We thought the insurer could have managed Janet’s expectations better. However, we didn’t think the delay had caused any extra damage. This is because the plumber’s report said the emergency probably happened the day before Janet got home. By the time she discovered the damage, it was quite substantial. Any further damage as a result of the delay would have had minimal impact. So we didn’t think the insurer had acted unreasonably.