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Your property back to it’s best
What exactly does ‘Reinstate’ mean?
The dictionary definition of reinstate is ‘to restore (someone or something) to their former position or state.’ Up North we would say ‘make good’. And we’d go a step further and add on ‘if not better’.
In the world of buildings insurance, reinstatement is required after a property has suffered damage, such as after a fire, flood or leak. Reinstatement refers to getting the property back to the condition it was prior to the damage
What does a reinstatement settlement cover?
Following a claim, your insurance company will form their settlement offer on a like-for-like basis, for example, if your laminate flooring got water damaged then you’ll be settled on the cost to replace it with the same or similar laminate flooring. There is likely to be more to the job than simply replacing and fitting the laminate, which the settlement should also cover.
If you were asked to provide quotes to replace the laminate you would more than likely source a flooring company who can simply supply and fit the floor. But, as we all know, one job generally makes ten, and you may find that replacing your flooring isn’t as straightforward as you initially thought. Here’s a typical example of how complicated a seemingly simple repair job can become:
- The floor fitter comes out to quote and insists that the skirting boards need removing before they can fit the new flooring.
- You enlist a joiner to quote for the skirting boards to be removed and then replaced at the end of the job. However, the joiner warns that the wall will be damaged by the removal of the skirting boards and will undoubtedly need redecorating.
- A decorator then comes out to quote, they can do the job but have limited availability.
- You then submit the three quotes to your insurance company.
- Once you have received the settlement you are then tasked with working with the availability of the three trades to arrange for the work to be done.
- Finally, several weeks down the line, everyone is booked in and the works can begin… or so you thought.
- The joiner arrives and takes off the skirting boards ready for the floor fitter to remove the damaged laminate. However, once the floor is up you discover that the subfloor is still soaking wet and unsuitable for laying new floor.
- At this point you must return to the insurance company to inform them or the additional findings, however they refuse to pay out as they have already issued the settlement, and as far as they are concerned, the case is closed.
- You are now left with a soaking wet floor, insufficient funds to cover the repair and trades who are now booked onto other jobs.
Unfortunately, this is far from an unusual situation. The good news is, we can prevent this from happening.
Managing your reinstatement… and your stress levels
You have already gone through enough stress, so why not let us sort it all out for you?
We can arrange the full reinstatement from start to finish, including sourcing the right quotes to cover the full extent of the works, using the right people for the right job, and project managing the trades so that everyone is doing what they should be doing, in the right order.
Also, we have worked on hundreds of reinstatement projects, which means that we know what to look out for. Following a leak we would foresee that the subfloor would be soaked, and identifying that up front would not only ensure that sufficient funds were in place, it would also vastly speed up the process.
We have also found that many customers don’t necessarily want a basic like for like replacement, and may use this opportunity to upgrade from the laminate and have the parquet floor that they have always dreamed of. We can help with that too.
Sounds simple? It is!
Examples of reinstatement jobs we have completed
Leak from bath waste
This job involved a slow leak that went unnoticed for months as it was concealed behind a bath panel. The customer only realised that there was a problem when stains began to appear on the ceiling below. Once the bath panel was removed, we could see the damage to the bathroom floor. As a leak from a waste pipe from a bath is classified as ‘grey water’ (due to the germs in waste water) the floor was deemed beyond economical repair.
To rectify the problem, the entire bathroom suite needed to be removed to replace the floor, including the floor tiles. The customer was already considering redoing the bathroom prior to the leak and decided to take this opportunity to create their dream bathroom. As we were already dealing with 50% of the work we were more than happy to advise and assist with the full remodel. We started by advising where to source a suitable replacement suite and arranged the following trades:
- Tiler – to tile floors and walls
- Plumber – to disconnect all services and fit new
- Joiner – to replace sub floor
- Surveyor – to assess joists for drying
- Drying technician – to sanitise the area
- Decorator – to paint ceiling
Fire due to Cannabis Farm
Our biggest job to date was passed to us by an insurance broker who needed assistance with a very stressed and deeply upset customer whose home had been damaged due to a fire in the neighboring property.
This has been one of our more unusual reinstatement projects, not least because of the origin of the fire. We were required to work at speed to assemble the right team to present the job to the insurance company. This involved using the best loss assessor in the business and appointing an extremely experienced building surveyor to take care of all matters, including party wall agreements.
The reinstatement is currently in progress and we are currently designing structural scaffold to support the four walls of the property in order to access and safely remove the roof and debris.
Water leak from mains supply
This customer had not yet moved into the property and unfortunately insurance was not in place. On visiting the property they were greeted with water gushing out through the front door. It transpired that the mains supply to the bath had been fitted incorrectly and due to the water pressure it eventually burst, sending floods of swimming pool proportion cascading throughout the property from top to bottom.
We promptly assisted in drying the property out. We then provided an expert witness to assess the installation and enlisted the following trades:
- Surveyor – to ascertain a drying programme
- Electrician – to create a temporary board to allow power to the drying equipment
- Labourers – to remove and dispose of debris
- Builder – to undertake the repairs
Fire caused by a tumble dryer
This incident occurred at a three bedroom period property where a family of four were renting. Thankfully the family spotted the flames and were able to escape, however the kitchen was completely burned out and the house was heavily smoke damaged. A faulty tumble drier was identified as the cause of the fire (a common cause of house fires).
We assisted in getting the family temporary accommodation while the reinstatement works took place and we were able to agree costs directly with the insurance company. We then arranged the following trades:
- Surveyor – to cost reinstatement works
- Restoration technician – to clean smoke damaged walls upstairs
- Plumber – to disconnect water supply, fit new suites etc
- Electrician – to disconnect existing system and rewire new system
- Gas engineer – to replace boiler
- Kitchen fitter – to install new kitchen
- Tiler – to tile kitchen and bathroom
- Plasterer – to reboard and skim where required
- Decorator – to decorate throughout
- Window fitter – to replace damaged windows
- Labourers – to help throughout the job
- Carpet fitters – to replace carpets
- Laboratory – to test samples of Artex ceilings for asbestos
- Cleaner – to give it a sparkle clean when all building works were complete
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