Worse Than An IA

Guys are here just now to fit a pipe to our existing pipe for our new loft bathroom. Was supposed to be a relatively easy job (minus the fact it's extra windy today - I don't believe this actually factored into my WTAIA). They are one of the only people that will do the pipework for loft-level height and the guy seems genuinely nice....

Doorbell just rang about 30 mins ago. Husband answers it and I can hear the bloke say the pipe they were cutting has fallen off the side of the house and gone directly through our garage roof and do we have a key so we can see how bad it is/pull the pipe out....First thing my husband said is "you're insured, yeah?" and the guy said yep, and he'll obviously be sorting it.

It went straight through the windscreen of my husband's S2000.........I went to survey the damage as he was halfway through shaving and in a dressing gown at this point and I wasn't sure I wanted him to see it first in case he just loses it. Damage seems to be only through the windscreen and dash with likely scratches to bonnet paint, but it didn't hit the soft top or wing so it could've - in theory - been worse.The guy doing the work will sort it through his insurance no doubt, but now Rik is worried about how it'll hurt his insurance when he next renews even though his car was parked IN THE GARAGE away from danger and he didn't think this would be a problem.

Just not an issue we wanted to needed to deal with right now, but what's one more right?

Guys are here just now to fit a pipe to our existing pipe for our new loft bathroom. Was supposed to be a relatively easy job (minus the fact it's extra windy today - I don't believe this actually factored into my WTAIA). They are one of the only people that will do the pipework for loft-level height and the guy seems genuinely nice....

Doorbell just rang about 30 mins ago. Husband answers it and I can hear the bloke say the pipe they were cutting has fallen off the side of the house and gone directly through our garage roof and do we have a key so we can see how bad it is/pull the pipe out....First thing my husband said is "you're insured, yeah?" and the guy said yep, and he'll obviously be sorting it.

It went straight through the windscreen of my husband's S2000.........I went to survey the damage as he was halfway through shaving and in a dressing gown at this point and I wasn't sure I wanted him to see it first in case he just loses it. Damage seems to be only through the windscreen and dash with likely scratches to bonnet paint, but it didn't hit the soft top or wing so it could've - in theory - been worse.The guy doing the work will sort it through his insurance no doubt, but now Rik is worried about how it'll hurt his insurance when he next renews even though his car was parked IN THE GARAGE away from danger and he didn't think this would be a problem.

Just not an issue we wanted to needed to deal with right now, but what's one more right?

Oh my gawd.... my husband would lose it.  He would blame himself, and rale at the world, and his mood would generally be unpleasant for weeks.  That's the sort of thing that would make him lose sleep.  He considers himself a steward of our car, and he feels a sense of duty to protect it.  So even when it's not in any way his fault, he would feel responsible.  I hope your husband knows better than mine.

Since it was parked in the garage, and these insured tradesmen caused the damage, it seems like there are multiple insurers that would come into play before it ever got to your auto insurance.  The tradesmen's, then your homeowner's,  and then your auto.  Do you even have to tell the auto insurer?  There was no traffic-involved incident.  It was a home related incident.

I am sorry.  This whole thing is rubbish. 

Oh my gawd.... my husband would lose it.  He would blame himself, and rale at the world, and his mood would generally be unpleasant for weeks.  That's the sort of thing that would make him lose sleep.  He considers himself a steward of our car, and he feels a sense of duty to protect it.  So even when it's not in any way his fault, he would feel responsible.  I hope your husband knows better than mine.

Since it was parked in the garage, and these insured tradesmen caused the damage, it seems like there are multiple insurers that would come into play before it ever got to your auto insurance.  The tradesmen's, then your homeowner's,  and then your auto.  Do you even have to tell the auto insurer?  There was no traffic-involved incident.  It was a home related incident.

I am sorry.  This whole thing is rubbish. 

I think he's more just broken at this point. He was like "....I didn't think I'd have to worry about moving it out of the garage...I thought it'd be safe...". He is being SO calm though that I'm so proud of him. He's obviously worried about a lot of potential things, but he's not overly freaking out about it just yet. I'm sure by this evening he'll probably be a mess. I just reminded him that the dude who's doing the work is also having a bad day because it's his insurance that will be the "at fault" party so he's obviously not please. Husband agreed and said the dude was getting a bit snappy with him as the guy was saying "I will sort it out" and my husband said that's fine and he went "it's not fine." Well no sh*t Sherlock, but there isn't much we can really do now so you'd think he would be happy the customer wasn't freaking the *bleep* out! 

Husband is also now paranoid that it was an asbestos roof and that we've breathed in asbestos in the 2 seconds we were in the garage and that I should "blow it out my nose". He is also a bit upset because he said the guy was vacuuming the bits out of his car and it was potentially scratching up the seat and that there are definitely now scratches on the bonnet because the guy was wiping the bits sprayed all over the bonnet off. Husband is concerned that even though the guy seems very nice, genuine, and worried about it that he might still try to wriggle his way out of it or out of as much of it as possible.

That's the thing, I don't know if we have to tell the auto-insurance. He;s already had it go up when he was parked and an impatient old guy scraped the bumper when trying to get around him at a petrol pump when there was no space. He wasn't at fault at all (car wasn't even on) but it still shot up and he's now worried it'll shoot up again as I'm not sure if we know how this will work.

Just another drop in the bucket. It'll all be over soon I imagine.

I know it's not the sort of thing you want to remember, but did you take pictures?  If there is any sort of dispute with the guy or his insurer later, pictures might be helpful.

I think he's more just broken at this point. He was like "....I didn't think I'd have to worry about moving it out of the garage...I thought it'd be safe...". He is being SO calm though that I'm so proud of him. He's obviously worried about a lot of potential things, but he's not overly freaking out about it just yet. I'm sure by this evening he'll probably be a mess. I just reminded him that the dude who's doing the work is also having a bad day because it's his insurance that will be the "at fault" party so he's obviously not please. Husband agreed and said the dude was getting a bit snappy with him as the guy was saying "I will sort it out" and my husband said that's fine and he went "it's not fine." Well no sh*t Sherlock, but there isn't much we can really do now so you'd think he would be happy the customer wasn't freaking the *bleep* out! 

Husband is also now paranoid that it was an asbestos roof and that we've breathed in asbestos in the 2 seconds we were in the garage and that I should "blow it out my nose". He is also a bit upset because he said the guy was vacuuming the bits out of his car and it was potentially scratching up the seat and that there are definitely now scratches on the bonnet because the guy was wiping the bits sprayed all over the bonnet off. Husband is concerned that even though the guy seems very nice, genuine, and worried about it that he might still try to wriggle his way out of it or out of as much of it as possible.

That's the thing, I don't know if we have to tell the auto-insurance. He;s already had it go up when he was parked and an impatient old guy scraped the bumper when trying to get around him at a petrol pump when there was no space. He wasn't at fault at all (car wasn't even on) but it still shot up and he's now worried it'll shoot up again as I'm not sure if we know how this will work.

Just another drop in the bucket. It'll all be over soon I imagine.

Please tell me he took photos of the damage before and after the cleanup? I'd make sure you have pictures of everything. Definitely not what you needed when you are going to show the house!

Asbestos is scary, but I'm not sure how common the incredibly dangerous type is over here - its not usually in plaster. If it was asbestos, they definitely should have wet it down before trying to clean it up. There are usually very specific handling procedures when asbestos could be involved, and a pipe fitter should definitely  know them. If he just wiped/vacuumed then he could've exposed himself and you guys to more.

I know it's not the sort of thing you want to remember, but did you take pictures?  If there is any sort of dispute with the guy or his insurer later, pictures might be helpful.

I took a picture of the windscreen after the pipe had been removed (because he had it out before I could go inside to get my phone) as husband was thinking exactly that: if this guy wants to wriggle out of it, we need photos. He said he got the photos of the pipe in the car.

They've cancelled the job for the day as their priority now is to make sure the car and garage get sorted. He said they are insured for up to £5k so that should be good enough! Husband just wants to make sure they'll include the scratched paint and not try to get out of it. The guy was being helpful trying to vacuum up the bits inside so I doubt he'll get much for scratched seats, but we'll see. Rik said they've already emailed about it with claim number and he won't be letting his insurance company know because it's not a car accident. They seem to be a genuinely good family run business who made a mistake, feel bad, and are trying to rectify it. We didn't give them a hard time about it even though it majorly sucks because everybody makes mistakes and this guy isn't exactly going to get off without learning his mistake.

Please tell me he took photos of the damage before and after the cleanup? I'd make sure you have pictures of everything. Definitely not what you needed when you are going to show the house!

Asbestos is scary, but I'm not sure how common the incredibly dangerous type is over here - its not usually in plaster. If it was asbestos, they definitely should have wet it down before trying to clean it up. There are usually very specific handling procedures when asbestos could be involved, and a pipe fitter should definitely  know them. If he just wiped/vacuumed then he could've exposed himself and you guys to more.

We only got photos of the windscreen but the pipe had already been removed by the time I could get to it. I mean, you can 100% tell it was a round pipe in there as the whole is a big, round size matching the hole in the roof and they've already started the claim process so hopefully we don't have to battle over this. Thankfully it's a separate garage and not part of the house. It wasn't plastered or anything and we can have the estate agents explain that this roof will be fixed (and, possible, completely new) soon. If this was part of the actual house itself, I would probably cry. They were nice enough and put a tarp on the roof to for us to protect the garage (which they didn't necessarily HAVE to do, but it was nice they chose to do it).

Effectively, they still have to come back and finish off the piping next week AND we need to sort out the garage/car damage so they've actually left with LESS accomplished for us today vs more...when it rains it pours...though I can't complain as it could be so much worse.

He said they are insured for up to £5k so that should be good enough!

I am so sorry KOD, that this has happened, is horrid.

But only being insured for £5,000 sounds very suspicious to me. He's a plumber, he could potentially have flooded your entire house or done far, far greater damage than that... I would have thought that a standard policy would be for a much higher value. Sorry to be so cynical but could it be that he is not actually insured and is planning to pay you out of pocket?  I mean, as long as you get your money, that's all that maters but it just seems really strange to me.

I am so sorry KOD, that this has happened, is horrid.

But only being insured for £5,000 sounds very suspicious to me. He's a plumber, he could potentially have flooded your entire house or done far, far greater damage than that... I would have thought that a standard policy would be for a much higher value. Sorry to be so cynical but could it be that he is not actually insured and is planning to pay you out of pocket?  I mean, as long as you get your money, that's all that maters but it just seems really strange to me.

Yeah, in insurance terms, £5k is buttons.  Very odd....

I am so sorry KOD, that this has happened, is horrid.

But only being insured for £5,000 sounds very suspicious to me. He's a plumber, he could potentially have flooded your entire house or done far, far greater damage than that... I would have thought that a standard policy would be for a much higher value. Sorry to be so cynical but could it be that he is not actually insured and is planning to pay you out of pocket?  I mean, as long as you get your money, that's all that maters but it just seems really strange to me.

Might have misunderstood as I was getting it all second hand from my husband but I thought he said he was covered for up to £5000. Sounds like it might be a small, local family business. They're not paying out of pocket for sure as they've already raised a claim and sent across all the info we need and said they'll keep us updated. Might need an assessor to come out next week they said.

I suspect it's £5M of cover not £5K.

I suspect it's £5M of cover not £5K.

That makes a lot more sense, based on the region where they work and the potential damage their trade could wreak (as pointed out  by Margo).

Either way, it's covered so I can breath somewhat easily!

Work.

*deep breath*

That is all.

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Yeap, big hugs HeyJay.

Work.

*deep breath*

That is all.

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Sending lots of hugs