OK, that makes sense.
I am now assuming the excess on the policy was 10% for the subsidence claim, hence you would only get 10%, is that correct?
I have no idea but the excess was £1000.
Here is an excerpt:
Our Charges and Disbursements
In order to recover our charges from the other party we are required by the relevant rules to inform
you of the circumstances in which, in theory, you may be liable to pay costs and disbursements such
as search fees, court fees and experts’ fees, which are likely to be incurred in pursuing the claim.
As we have mentioned and subject to our comments under the heading “Additional Claims” below
your insurers will pay all legal costs of the claim and will be responsible for any liability for costs
which might arise.
If, as the matter progresses, it appears that the executors may have a costs liability then we will
contact you before this happens and explain any potential costs liability to you.
Additional Claims
We may be able to include, at no expense to the executors, Additional Claims for:
(1) the policy excess;
(2) a claim for what is known as “general damages” for any distress or inconvenience that your
late mother may have suffered as a result of the subsidence damage;
(3) subject to their nature and extent, any uninsured losses
You should be aware that any general damages that might be recovered are likely to be small.
We may not be able to deal with an Additional Claim if it is large or complex, or a conflict of interest
between the executors’ claims and that of your Insurers arises, and it may be necessary for the
executors to instruct their own solicitors. If we are able to deal with the uninsured loss claim on the
executors’ behalf, we may ask them to meet the legal costs associated with making that claim but we
can discuss this with you should the situation arise.
Please let us know about any Additional Claims the executors wish to make on behalf of your late
mother’s estate.
Settlement of claims
It is very common in claims such as this to receive offers of settlement from the other party that are
not broken down between the different heads of claim. For that reason it may not possible to see
what is offered for the insured losses and what is offered for any Additional Claims. It is also likely
that any such offer will be less than the total sums claimed. If this happens, by asking us to act in
pursuing the Additional Claims the executors would be agreeing to accept in settlement a portion of
the sum accepted in settlement. That portion will be calculated on the basis of the amount that the
Additional Claims represent of the total sums claimed. For example, if the total amount claimed is
£100 and £10 of that is an Additional Claim for uninsured losses, the executors’ portion will be 10%.
If the total sum accepted in settlement is £80, the executors will receive 10% of that which is £8.
