Introduction post

[saveasteading]

33 minutes ago, Pollyanna said:

M&S just refer me to the underwriter. 

I think your contract is with M&S.

This is more "money" than building.

Have you tried MoneySavingExpert ? Etc.

[Kelvin]

35 minutes ago, Pollyanna said:

I'm not giving up, but I've been banging my head against a wall for 4 months now and my mental health is suffering. Some days it just feels hopeless, and I don't know where to go from here.

Loss adjuster as suggested above. It’s what they do. 

[Pollyanna]

7 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

I think your contract is with M&S.

This is more "money" than building.

Have you tried MoneySavingExpert ? Etc.

As said, I want to try and find out more about the ins and outs of the work needing done from the forum - that's why I joined.

[Kelvin]

Post up some pictures. It’s always easier to comment when people can see what’s happening. But as already suggested for water damage it’s strip right back to blockwork, let it dry, rebuild. Our friend’s self-build had a roof fire shortly after completion but it was the water that did al the damage. 

[Pollyanna]

1 hour ago, Kelvin said:

Post up some pictures. It’s always easier to comment when people can see what’s happening. But as already suggested for water damage it’s strip right back to blockwork, let it dry, rebuild. Our friend’s self-build had a roof fire shortly after completion but it was the water that did al the damage. 

Tried to upload some pics but I'll need to find a way to resize them first. My house is a bungalow. The main issues were that the water brought several ceilings down, a LOT of water flooded through into several adjoining rooms. Chipboard floating floors were soaked and are damaged in places, the water has gone down onto the concrete underneath and I believe the floors need to be lifted to allow this to dry out before replacing with new chipboard. A lot of water also ran down walls and also seeped up into them from underneath - the plasterboard seems dry now but will the integrity of it be damaged ie will it need to be replaced? There are various places where skirtings etc seem to have detached from the plasterboard.

[Kelvin]

You can resize them from within the forum. On my iPhone when I  add a picture at the bottom of the screen it says show selected, click that and it now says actual size. Click that and select the re-sized picture. It will apply the resize to each picture you add automatically in that post. 

[ProDave]

7 minutes ago, Pollyanna said:

Tried to upload some pics but I'll need to find a way to resize them first. My house is a bungalow. The main issues were that the water brought several ceilings down, a LOT of water flooded through into several adjoining rooms. Chipboard floating floors were soaked and are damaged in places, the water has gone down onto the concrete underneath and I believe the floors need to be lifted to allow this to dry out before replacing with new chipboard. A lot of water also ran down walls and also seeped up into them from underneath - the plasterboard seems dry now but will the integrity of it be damaged ie will it need to be replaced? There are various places where skirtings etc seem to have detached from the plasterboard.

Yes just like one of the ones I worked on, a leak in the loft brought a bedroom ceiling down.  It ended with the entire bungalow stripped back bare, every scrap of floor, wall and ceiling and all the soaked insulation removed, thoroughly dried and all re built.  It was like a new house when rebuilt.

 

I assume the risk if not being that thorough is some damp gets missed and there is the risk of dry rot later.

 

I really think you need a loss adjuster.  If this is put right properly you will be moving out for months.

[TonyT]

Insurers quite happy to take your money and offer no help when you require it.

 

get quotes for removal company to remove and store your possession for months, forward this to the insurers, get your MP involved too, 

 

document everything in writing with them, they are all arseholes… wanting to haggle over the works until you accept.