Bit of advice needed regarding house fires and also a storage question

I haven't used them, but my cousin has (when she and her H moved in with her parents to save money for a deposit on a house) and they had to throw away their matresses as they were mouldy. This may just be the one they used, but I'd be a bit wary.

Can't help on the loss adjuster thing. Hope it all works out okay for you.

Thanks Melancholie. It would only be for some appliances, and a bed frame as the mattresses which weren't burnt will stink of smoke anyway, so nothing should go mouldy hopefully.

For the size I need it's going to cost at least #120 anyway, so for 6 months it's not worth it so I might as well ditch the lot. Sadly they are only 18 months old. Something I need to consider before Monday.

I cant advise about the UK ones but my US experience of them is good. Climate controlled is what you should look for, it stops things like moldy mattresses. Sorry your having to deal with this.

I doubt the ones back home are climate controlled, although to be fair I've not really investigated too much other than pull up a yell.com list of places, and looked at one website. One of many things on the to-do list for tomorrow.

Did you see the pics? I took about 50 of them. Breaks my heart when I see the belongings all charred and destroyed. And what makes matters worse is non of the tenants took out their own contents insurance. Whoever thinks your home is going to go up in smoke? Especially after a break-in - on a main road. Hopefully they'll catch whoever did it from the witness report and e-fit. Mind you, what good will it do any of us if/when he's caught? It won't pay for things or give us the house and the tenants their home back. Ba$tard ?

So sorry to read about this on top of everything else you have been having to deal with.

We had quite a bad house fire in 2000. Not sure any of this will help/be applicable but here is my tuppence worth:

1) Storage - what we managed to salvage (mainly sitting room and dinning room furniture, wooden bed frames) was stored with a local storage company. Don't think they were climate controlled but everything that came out, was absolutely fine. Though no mattresses, soft furnishings, etc were kept. Specialist cleaners went to the storage company to do some kind of clean prior to it all being put into the crate.
The insurance company paid for the storage.

2) Regarding the private loss adjuster ....I really don't know the answer to that. I would have thought (but as said, I don't know for a fact) that you couldn't have your own loss adjuster. We found, what the insurance company's loss adjuster said/wrote, etc was final, end of! Having said that, we did fight him on lots of issues (through the insurance company) and some figures/"allowances" were altered. But at times was a complete battle.

3) Surveyor - again (sorry, not being much help am I?!), I am not sure! Our situation was that our house was only 5 years old. When the loss adjuster came and the rebuilding of our home was discussed, Dad asked if the builders who built the house could be appointed. This (thankfully) wasn't an issue. In our area, the insurance company usually dealt with a larger building company but I think were quite happy to go with our choice of builder.
"Our" builders then got their surveyor onto the job, prepare the schedule of works, etc for the loss adjuster/insurance company and as far as I know, there were no issues. This (apart from the destruction of our home and so, so, worse, our loss....not children but loved as much) was the worst part of, it seemed to take forever....meanwhile, our shell of a house stood, boarded up and not a thing could be done until the schedule of works was prepared and agreed).

4) I did shudder when I read this, I do so feel for you (and even more so) having to deal with this from abroad.........could you appoint someone to oversee everything and deal with the loss adjuster?

5) Different situation entirely to us, but as our house was inhabitable, we had to move into a rented house.....not sure how it works for tenants of a rented property but perhaps worth asking?

6) It is not a quick process!!!!

As said, not sure if any of this is any help and sorry if it's a bit rambling (I really am crap at writing....hence I don't post very often!)

I've just used a self storage place for a couple of months whilst I was midst move and it was fine. Cheaper than I first thought. Not sure about the climate control thing but a pal of mine who is an artist stores a lot of his 'spare' work in a local family run storage place and it is fine, he has never had any problems with mould etc.

Hope you get everything sorted out.

Thanks both.

Hairy Spider - my builder recommended I get my own LA or surveyor to fight my case while I'm over here. The insurance company's LA certainly isn't working on my behalf, and already there are discrepancies arising.

With regards to the tenants, I've had an environmental health officer deem the property uninhabitable in writing. It's not my responsibility to re-house my tenants, although I do really feel for them.

I'm very quickly becoming aware of how long all of this is going to take. It reminded me of Lois when her house was flooded. It seemed like forever reading it on here .. GOK how it felt for her

Good recommendation from your builder. You definitely need someone fighting your corner* - the loss adjuster certainly won't. It is all so time consuming, totally frustrating and draining. On numerous occasions I had to by-pass the loss adjuster and deal (read: complain) to the insurance company direct.

*and be "on the spot" with basic stuff like arrangements, eg. for storage company to collect anything for store, tip for clearout, etc and down the line, furniture deliveries, etc.

Sorry, I wasn't meaning to imply at all that it was your responsibility to re-house your tenants. What I meant was alternative accommodation was paid for by insurance company for us....I didn't know if this would be the case for tenants. Although I am sure you have asked this already, but loss of your rental income....will this be covered by the insurance company?

Our fire was beginning of March....we moved back home (with literally the varnish drying on the floors...just wanted home!) late November.

".. time consuming, totally frustrating and draining ... " Great! I knew it, it's nothing I wasn't expecting, but seeing it in print has filled me with dread.

The loss adjuster said it would be approximately 6 months before the house will be fit again for re-letting. I'm not holding my breath.

As for insurance - I took out Landlord Insurance which covers loss of rent, but for buildings only even though this property is let furnished. Big mistake as nothing is covered at all that's not fixed - not even carpets and flooring. Lesson learnt there.

Lots of lessons being learnt. If the market wasn't so depressed, now would be a good time to sell and get out of letting altogether (at least with this HMO), but it's not the right time for a few reasons, not just because of the economy.

I didn't take it you meant it was my responsibility to re-house the tenants, just stating it isn't in this case.

And I'm shocked it took 9 months for you to get back into your home. That's awful.