I have an insurance question, I can't seem to find the answer to on the net.
We have an investment property in Dalby, QLD. It was flooded a few times and is insured with Suncorp, so we are covered and Suncorp has signed off on the claim.
HOWEVER we would like to do the house repairs ourselves (other than where a lic'd person is required eg sparky, pluming) as my partner is a carpenter /plasterer by trade.
Suncorp are telling me that we can do that and submit quotes, but they won't pay him for his services being that it is our property?
My question is – is this standard as I can't find any legislation that states this. He would not be benefiting as such as it would just replace the income he would otherwise be earning on someone elses flood affected property. Or is it possible to have Suncorp pay us out, either cancel the insurance (and insure elsewhere) or agree with them to remove the lifetime guarantee on repairs and we can then do the repairs ourselves.
We buy renovate and sell anyway – so the experience it there and the intention is to keep this as a buy and hold.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.Cat,
why would you do it yourself when someone else, Suncorp, is prepared to pay? This may be an opportunity to learn delegation and project manage the repairers as I suspect your concern is for the quality of the job, meanwhile your partner can be paid for work elsewhere. The insurer has a responsibility to its clients and clearly feels better able to meet expectations by paying for the full cost of the job with a builder/carpenter/etc as that way they have recourse over the provider of the service, if eg. they have an accident, cause further damage, or the work needs redoing. My suggestion would be to help the insurer do what it needs to do to maintain corporate didligence on its spend, whilst being present to ensure that you get as good an end result, ie be a demanding client.
Good luckThx for the feedback
I’m more than capable of getting the works complete but you’ll be the first to complain to Suncorp if the works done by your partner was not satisfactory – what comeback would you or the insurance coy. have?
The insurer is covering its risk.
mrbean wrote:Cat,
why would you do it yourself when someone else, Suncorp, is prepared to pay?This – we only have a finite amount of time to use. Why do something when someone else is available to do the job. Use your time for some other personal gain.
Cat,
Does Suncorp just need the work done by an independent tradesperson or do they select their own tradies? If they just need someone independent, your partner could work as a sub-contractor for another tradie? Obviously the other tradie would be a friend or associate who wouldn’t want a cut from the insurance payout unless they actually helped.
Kind Regards,
Matt.
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