Xmas eve house flood from split flexi hose.

Have you got a dehumidifier? Might be worth getting one if not to try and reduce any further damage.

I'd leave it to LV. Additional cost, sub-standard work, warranty, etc is their problem.
Don't forget that you'll have to live somewhere, this may be extra if a cash settlement is made and you need temp accommodation.

Presumably they'd be more prepared to re-insure as they know that the job is done properly, less risk, etc

This happened to two friends of ours. In both cases they were pressurised in to staying in the house while work was done.

In one case they were asked to live there while a dehumidifier ran 24 hours a day. The neighbours complained about the noise from the dehumidifier, it was that noisy!

Both were eventually compensated to move out for a while which made life better all round.

I strongly suggest you stick with LV for the whole process and get ready to apply pressure to be temporarily rehoused if required/desired.

I'd use LV to sort it. Unless you have a very good trusted local builder on hand who can respond faster and work to an agreed price.

Also, if it's your only bathroom/kitchen and they are unusable, you might be able to get alternative accommodation sorted out through LV as the house may be considered as uninhabitable.

Dehumidifier is not a bad idea but the cost of it (hire and running costs) should be part of the claim. So ask LV and get receipts and meter readings.

Also, take photos showing as much as you can. See how the damage develops. Don't take millions of them - but make sure they are clear and show everything.

Firstly, have they confirmed the policy will respond?

Also, keep hold of the failed pipe. Depending on the age, they may want to pursue a recovery from the supplier or fitter.

Lots of photos, and a dehumidifier will certainly evidence you mitigating the loss.

I would check the policy wording too, to see if it does make provision for alternative accommodation.

We had same a few years ago, burst heating pipe in concrete floor.

Our issue was we were with Aviva and they used Homeserve to provide plumbers and supposedly to do remedial work, after 9 plumbers had been out (kept sending them out and not telling them what job was, so they had hour time slot, to do job of 2 plumbers and an all day job, or they'd turn up and not have the gear needed, first one that came lied and said he'd fixed issue, but had just capped it in one place, so whole hearing system continued to drain into concrete floor for weeks after), they were useless, i ended feeling like i had to take the money and do the work myself.

They supplied 2 industrial heaters and 3 dehumidifiers and when we went away for 5 days, i was told to keep them on 24 hours a day whilst we were away, came back to the food and jars in the cupboards all being so hot it had gone off, and 3 wooden doors in house had warped!

So I would make sure whoever LV uses are actually up to the job, keep on their backs and make sure they are not cutting corners.

Having dealt with insurance loss adjusters on construction projects for water damage (not my own domestic issues) I’d support the previous comment about taking photographs. Additionally explore as mush as you can and assume the worst case in all areas.

For instance don’t decide you can make do with only replacing a couple of kitchen units. Instead work on the assumption that they all need to come out, if only to enable full clean up and drying out in all the inaccessible spots.

Additionally insist on the space having time to dry out once stripped back. Dehumidifiers of course but also fans. The first project I had that needed this (clean up after a visit from the fire brigade) I was amazed at how much of a difference massive fans running all day made. Obviously this is scaled down in a domestic environment but will still be a benefit.

Again by making the point with the insurance company that it needs sorting properly you could push for a specialist company to deal with the clean up and drying out before the builder gets stuck in with making good.

We had this but a bit smaller scale. The upstairs loo water feed flooded the bathroom and the kitchen below.

The insurers sent their builder in to remediate. The works at this point quite minor. Bathroom floor, kitchen ceiling plus bits n bobs. I'd kept spare floor tiles so the builder was able to relay the floor with matching tiles after making good and the ceiling repair went without incident.

However, the builder couldn't tile for sh1t and the result was 4x4 rubbish. We now had no spare matching tiles and the job was very sub standard.

To put us back where we were and should have been, the insurance then paid for a full bathroom refit (by our preferred contractor) to ensure a full match.

So, the insurers builder was mostly terrible and made a poor incident worse. The insurers eventually put things right but needed a lot of 'persuasion' to do so.

Moral? There are no winners and it's a RPIA. You have my sympathies.

ouch that sounds terrible. I know with not much sleep it probably seems a total loss but is it really that bad? we've had a couple of reasonably bad leaks in the past and it's not been as bad as we first thought and one where was where part of our chimney went through the roof and bathroom ceiling flooding the kitchen below too.

get the fans and humidifiers going as soon as you can.

Sorry to read this.

I looked after a house that nearly flooded with a burst Flexi pipe. I caught it in time with just superficial damage.

Keep the offending pipe and any supporting evidence that the ins company may use against you. We had a water outage last week so when water was turned back on we could have had a pressure surge as a pipe in our boiler blew.

Hope it works out ok.

Sadly while you’re a customer of the insurance company they also have a duty to their shareholders to minimise payments which can cause a conflict.

If it were me in this position I’d look to appoint my own assessor & have them keep the insurance company honourable. Unless you have a recommendation then I’d guess google

It might cost a bit of money, but it should stop some of the points above, being made to remain in place unreasonably while works are undertaken, minimal investigatory / drying work, etc.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/loss-assessors/

Happened to my sister. It destroyed a few rooms as they were away on holiday. Hotel for a few days while basic work was done to make it safe. They took the money as they took the opportunity to do more work they had thought about but never got round to.

They eventually got sorted. Didn't sound like any more hassle than other building work in my experience.