Charging For A Quote?

[DarceyK123]

Had a leek in my kitchen and the flooring is ruined.
Insurance Co have asked me to provide 3 quotes detailing the the price per square metre.

I thought, ok no problem, ànd invited a few flooring Co's around.

The first one came today and although he gave me an overall price he refused to give me any sort of breakdown for the insurance unless i paid £50 for it.

Does this sound right? If i have to pay that for each i will be £150 out of pocket before we even start.

[Canary42]

Seems a bit much, but shouldn't the insurance cover that cost as well ?

[andy-hughes]

No.

Quotes are a standard practice, and you should avoid anyone who charges for them.

You will find your first tradesman is the exception, not the rule.

[DarceyK123]

Oh thats good.

This was Tapi Carpets, quite a big Co down here in the South.

[ToraToraTora]

just work out the sq metreage yourself and divide the price.

[JimF]

Find a reputable tradesperson on Check-a-Trade.com or MyBuilder.com

[naomi24]

I’ve had all sorts of minor and major works done in various houses and I have never paid for a quote. Get someone else in.

[Buenchico]

It's fairly standard, I think.

As an analogy, if you ask an auctioneer to give you a valuation on, say, a piece of jewellery or an antique, almost all will happily give you a verbal valuation. However if you need a written valuation for insurance purposes, you normally have to pay for it.

I suggest asking the insurer whether they'll refund reasonable fees that you'll have to pay in order to get the quotes that they're seeking.

[DarceyK123]

Tora- the square footage quote must come from the flooring Co they will not accept it from me.

Got someone else coming tomorrow, see what they say. If they all charge then i will have to ask the insurance if they will pay for it.

If the others dont charge then Tapi have put themselves out of the running as i dont have a quote from them to submit.

[david small]

When I ran a carpet business we often were asked to do insurance quotes. Frequently never heard from quoted again. So, man and van out to measure up submit written quotation. Time, wages, fuel etc.
Insurance quotes were not that welcome.

[jno]

try asking a few of them without saying it's an insurance job: you might find the quotes appreciably lower.

[Maydup]

Indeed. If they know it’s for insurance purposes they know the chances of getting the job are one in three at best and they can’t afford to waste their time fulfilling all these insurance requests.

I would say they are any less reputable, just tired of measuring up, working out costs and not getting the job.

[douglas9401]

I suppose some companies are in the happy position where folk knock on the door, ask them to fit whatever then submit a figure plucked from thin air.

The rest of them are happy to spend 15 minutes quoting for a job.

[DarceyK123]

Had a lovely local Company come out today, cheaper than Tapi and didnt charge me anything.