When a Claim Goes Wrong

Amira comes home to find her kitchen ceiling on the floor. A pipe under her own bathroom floor upstairs has been leaking, and the soaked plaster has finally given way. She turns the water off at the stopcock in the dry hallway, keeps out of the kitchen until an electrician has made the wet wiring safe, photographs what she can see from the doorway and rings her insurer that evening.

Three weeks later, two documents are on her table: her builder’s quote of £9,000 to replace the ceiling, rewire the lights and refit two damaged units, and the insurer’s settlement breakdown. This lesson follows her case through the offer, the disagreements and, if it comes to it, the ombudsman.