Glossary

Accidental damage

Accidental damage is damage that is caused as the result of a non-deliberate, one-off incident that harms your property or its contents. This could include accidentally spilling a liquid that creates a significant carpet stain or a picture frame falling off a wall and damaging a piece of furniture.

Bespoke

Bespoke refers to something that has been custom made, designed or a service that has been carried out based on a customer’s individual needs.

Building surveyor

Building surveyors provide professional advice on properties and construction, which include residential, commercial, industrial, leisure and agricultural projects. They work on behalf of National Home Repairs to design and develop any restoration work required as part of an insurance claim.

Carbon fire residue

A substance left over from a fire, which is sometimes corrosive and acidic. It is important to remove this quickly to prevent any further damage to your property after fire damage.

Commercial

Commercial refers to business properties. National Home Repairs’ experienced team are able to work on large-scale restoration projects for businesses as well as domestic claims.

Contents restoration

Content restoration is the act of repairing a piece of furniture, carpets, picture frames, valuable items etc. to their original state. This may include repairing damaged woodwork, removing carpet stains or restoring leather to its former glory.

Deodorisation

Deodorisation is the practice of removing or absorbing unpleasant smells from a property using anti-microbials. This is particularly relevant after a property has suffered from fire damage, smoke damage, flood damage or an escape of water.

Domestic

Domestic is to do with a home or personal property. There is no claim too small for National Home Repairs to tackle.

Fire damage

Fire damage is caused when a property has been damaged by a fire. Fire damage can include smoke damage, erosion from ash, scorch marks, carpet damage, burnt woodwork and structural damage.

Flood damage

Flood damage is caused when flood water enters a property and damages furniture, carpets, woodwork, walls and contents through water damage. Flood water can be particularly nasty because it can contain sewage which create a hygiene issue in the property.

Electrical PAT assessment

This is a standard test done on an electrical appliance to help ensure its safety for use.

Erosion

Erosion refers to the damage caused to an item or property usually from an external source. For example, metals could begin to erode if smoke and ash is left to settle after fire damage, meaning that the item is permanently damaged.

Escape of water

Escape of water refers to all water damage that happens inside a property. This could include a burst pipe, a water leak, an overflowing toilet or a broken washing machine that creates a flow of water.

Extraction services

This commonly refers to the methods used to extract water and moisture from a property.

Home owners

A home owner is someone who owns the damaged property. The homeowner/s is responsible for filing insurance claims and contacting National Home Repairs.

Impact damage

Impact damage refers to the damage that has been caused to a property from an external force such as a car driving into a house or a tree falling on a property.

Incident report

An incident report details how a property was damaged, including the pre-incident condition of the property and the damaged caused.

Insurance

A contract (policy) where an individual or organisation receives financial protection or will be given money to cover any losses from an insurance company.

Insurance excess

Your insurance excess is a fixed sum of money that is quoted in your insurance policy, which a property owner must pay if an insurance claim is accepted. Usually this is a small amount and the insurance company will cover the remaining financial costs.

Leak detection

Leak detection is a service offered by National Home Repairs, where we use infrared technology to detect changes in heat behind walls and ceilings to find a leak. Finding a leak quickly can prevent future damage to a property. Leak detection may not be covered by your insurance company unless you have a “trace and access” clause in your policy.

Loss assessor

Loss assessors help ensure that policyholders (property owners) receive the best possible settlement for their insurance claim.

Loss adjustor

Loss adjustors visit your property on behalf of your insurance company to assess how much loss or damage has been caused to your property, so that they can decide how much compensation the insurance company should pay out to National Home Repairs.

Policyholder

A policyholder refers to the named person or organisation who has taken out an insurance policy.

Pre-incident condition

Pre-incident condition refers to the condition of a property before any damages occurred.

Preliminary report

National Home Repairs will carry out a preliminary report when we first visit your property. It will describe the damage to the property and is used when negotiating with your insurance company.

Premium

In this case premium refers to the high quality service that is provided by National Home Repairs.

Project management

Project management is the process by which National Home Repairs communicates with suppliers, plans project workloads, and negotiates with the insurance company to ensure that a customer’s claim is effectively handled.

Project managers

A project manager is the person who is in charge of the planning and activity surrounding a particular project. At National Home Repairs this will be one of our dedicated team who will contact you directly to discuss your insurance claim and will manage the builders, suppliers and contractors involved in your claim.

Property owner

A property owner is someone who owns a building; this could be a house or a business property. The property owner/s is responsible for filing insurance claims and contacting National Home Repairs.

Restoration

Restoration is the action of returning something to its original condition. When National Home Repairs refer to damage restoration we are talking about repairing a property to its original condition after damage has been caused.

Sanitisation

Sanitisation is the act of making something hygienic (free of germs). Sanitisation may need to take place after flood damage because carpets and soft furnishings have come into contact with sewage waste.

Specialists

A specialist is a person who is highly skilled and has a great deal of knowledge in a chosen area. For example, National Home Repairs are specialists in the field of insurance claims and property restoration.

Storm damage

Storm damage is any damage to a property that has been caused as the result of a storm, specifically high winds. This can include fallen trees, tiles being ripped off roofs, electrical surges, broken windows etc.

Thermal imaging

Thermal imaging is used in homes to help our specialists detect water leaks. Using infrared camera technology the National Home Repairs’ team are able to look behind walls, floors and ceilings to detect heat differences which can show the source of a leak.

Trace & Access

Trace and access refers to the detection and uncovering of a leak in the home. It is usually part of a home insurance buildings policy but is not included on every policy as standard.

Water damage

Water damage describes any damage that has been caused by water. This can include flood damage, escape of water, burst pipes, damaged furniture, ceiling damage from a leak etc.


Case Studies

View more Case Studies

Burst Water Tank
A burst 50 gallon water tank caused mains water to run through a 2 bedroom house undetected for 2 days.

Fire at Estate Agents
A fire caused by a faulty electrical socket in a kitchenette caused extensive smoke damage.

Water Damaged Property
Letting Agents in Hertford asked us to visit one of their landlords property which had been affected by water damage.

Bathroom Water Leak
We had a call from a distressed shop owner who had water coming through her ceiling when she opened up on a Saturday morning.

Testimonials

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I just wanted to write and praise Martyn of National Home Repairs for his handling of ...

Lily Newton

Having suffered a very large water damage claim in our house in late December National Home ...

Steve Stubbs

When the floods happened in Cumbria we were taken totally by surprise and the whole of ...

Joe Challenor