icab.uk.com Avis 143

from mr a johnson
poole dorset
i would just like to thank mr simon martin he spent the so much time to make sure we could have right property as we had to move because of water damage to our property a great big thank you from myself and wife again thank you simon

Absolutely useless. It’s worth checking if your insurance use this company because they are a waste of time. Couldn’t organise a thing. Had to book accommodation myself in the end and claim back from insurer. Avoid.

I am an insurance claimant and was referred to ICAB for my alternative accommodation while my flat is being repaired.

After discussing my housing requirements with them, they promised to come back to me with some suitable options. However when these options were sent to me, it was obvious that the person who found them had not bothered with it all.

Not only were the flats they found me the absolute cheapest that were available (obviously because they had issues) but they only sent me a total of 3 options in total and even managed to get the details of the initial tenancy contract and break clause incorrect, which wasted my time.

Honestly anyone who is referred to ICAB for alternative accommodation should just decline them as they basically provide no real service whatsoever and you are really better off just doing it yourself.

If you are a landlord or a letting agent, please do not allow ICAB to place an insured client of theirs into one of your properties.

The disregard for the condition of the property at check-out, the level of contempt shown towards the landlord when attempting to rectify issues clearly detailed in the tenancy agreement and not fulfilled, is shocking.

Should anyone require further clarification or information on our experiences with ICAB, please do not hesitate to contact us directly.

Instead of attempting to deal with the matter, they simply state for you to proceed to deposit arbitration, clearly aware of the time constraints of this.
Rude and unhelpful - you will regret allowing tenancy.

Unfortunately, for the insured that do respect a property and are forced to use ICAB, please be aware that their lack of concern for property misused by some of their clients, will have a negative effect on all of their clients.

Unfortunately, under no circumstances would we recommend a future tenancy where ICAB are involved.

Unnecessary and irresponsible service. Please don't use it; avoid it. Good employees tend to leave, while bad ones stay.

The worst company ever. Check with insurance first if they work with ICAB! if they do then simply don't buy the policy off them. DO NOT EVER DEAL WITH ROSS AT ICAB, he's the most arrogant of the lot!
We are out of the bathroom for last 3 months and have been given a Pod which sits on our driveway. The pod stopped working on Friday and after 3 days of non stop calls I managed to get an engineer to visit us on Monday. In the meantime the dry scum was all over the place and all I did was clean the bloody toilet on Sunday as it's super unhygienic specially considering the fact that I HAVE A 4 YEAR OLD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS! To be safe I informed the amazing emergency team of ICAB as well for their records. Somehow the genius feels that we have violated the terms and conditions of using the pod - without any proof and I am now told that the pod will be taken away from us in couple of days and in return we are told to go from one hotel to another. The only thing they are good at is NOT LISTENING TO THE CUSTOMERS.

I am a 69 yo pensioner who was diagnosed with cancer last year. Due to my care needs I moved in with my partner and rented out my house via a nationwide agency. They were delighted to be approached by ICAB with an offer to rent my house for a couple displaced by a fire in their home. Being new to the market I took the agent's advice and accepted the tenancy as it was guaranteed by ICAB. Although the rent was paid on time, the tenants were appalling threatening me and the agents with emails and voice mail messages so bad that they are now in the hands of the police. The tenants became aggressive when the end of the tenancy drew near. It was in fact ICAB who put in the notice. The tenants had never complained at all until that point when they accused me of having an unsanitary property which "made them ill al the time".
There was £3k worth of damage left at the house when I managed to regain access. I asked for the deposit at least to be returned but the tenants and ICAB refused saying there was "evidence of historic damage to the house" which is a lie, unsupported by evidence from survey reports, agent's visits etc.
The tenants put in a dispute claim which has now lapsed as they had no evidence to back up their claims. However, ICAB are refusing to allow the return of the deposit just because they can. They know there is no justification to withhold the deposit and that the evidence I provided to the third party deposit company is irrefutable.
I am now £3k in credit card debt because of these repairs and my only recourse apparently is to take ICAB to court which I cannot afford to do as they well know. They have shown themselves to be a dishonourable company not interested in truth.
Insurance companies, letting agents and prospective landlords should take note that this is a company to be avoided at all costs as they have no integrity.

Sophie and her team were excellent. After a house fire she found a suitable hotel for me to stay in until a suitable flat came up as a temporary residence until repairs have been carried out at my home address. Whenever l contacted ICAB the staff members were very supportive and took into account my needs. I am very happy with the service l received.

My local housing association are using this company
I have had a fire at my property which left me and my disabled 24yr old daughter homeless
We have been passed from hotel to hotel and this weekend been left with no accommodation at all
They didn't give a s**t
They have not met my daughters needs at all,told me over 2 weeks ago they were looking for a serviced apartment yet still have found nothing
My daughter does not understand being moved about and I've had 3 emotional breakdowns due to all the stress
Will be calling my HA Monday to say I won't deal with ICAB anymore and I've reported it all to Social services as a safeguarding issue for my daughter

This company should be shut down. Nothing but a bunch of heartless crooks who manipulate situtations to stall paying. My elderly mother suffered a house fire and needed rehoming, when I found somwhere for her they tried everything to stall the payment. The lies were incredible. Dishonest and heartless. They will do anything to get out of paying. DO NOT USE. INSURANCE COMPANIES DO NOT USE!!

My council trusted ICAB but I kindly requested to tranfere us another Hostel where windows can open because my child has severe asthma and after I contacted with ICAB they advised me to contact the council and the council advised to to contact ICAB. ICAB extended the booking while the child suffers to breath in the hostel because no window opens this hostel hostel.

ICab Emergency Accommodation contact provide you with a EMERGENCY phone number to call and ask for Gail and a referral number:When you phone says following
then keep saying this number not available Or says press option 1 if emergency:
Then still keeps knocking the call off so you keep phoning this was
ON A MAY BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND STRESS CAUSED IS DISGUSTING needs highlighting too Newspapers and Businesses this company are making money out of stressful situations but the only one woman who answered the phone certainly should not be in this role I found her unresponsive unreliable and dismissed my calls after I received a text from ICab :with her name to call :

My housing association trusted ICaB to handle their tenants emergency accommodation but all was not smooth due to stress ICAB caused : Despite a placement which had to be extended twice they left me age 76 registered disabled trying to contact them: When my first week ended in the hotel :When I managed to get through to I Cab I was told current hotel did not have any rooms and they would call me back this phone call never came :
A woman again I believe was involved later with an attitude ) I packed all my things early hours at 5.39 am only to speak to current Hotel manger at 7 am who told me they had 20 rooms available:
I was eventually rebooked back here but after speaking with my landlord tenancy liaison officer Sophie it was agreed that with two elderly small dogs and no outside space and disabled they would agree that I move to same hotel company but one with outside space where myself and two elderly small dogs could sit because can’t walk far : Also limited where I could go to cafes to eat with two small dogs : And Sophie did in fact contact ICAB to ensure they assisted in the change more suitable:
(Not my landlord Stonewater Fault ) but ICAB
: Twice I’ve been messed about now by ICAb and I’m taking my complaint higher so Councils and Housing Association are aware and Shelter how tenants like myself are treated by ICAB STAFF Emergency out of hours )
and make a desperate situation even more chaotic lack of support in the client s desperate situations they don’t seem as they want to really place you anywhere hoping you won’t keep phoning 5 or 6 times
Disgraceful I’m actually in total shock and really feel sad for anyone who has to go through the stress ICAb brings through total lack of choosing staff who should be experienced in dealing with desperate people having to go into temporary accommodation while their homes are being treated for serious health risks
I’m currently still waiting for the morning to receive a phone call to say that my accommodation for another week has been arranged as at 23.23pm I don’t know where I’m going because Gail was not going to do anything tonight :Gail said she would leave a note for staff in morning as she only deals with tonight who requested accommodation:
And I can’t go home due to major work being done
Update I phoned ICAB this morning at 7.23am Sunday 28th May and same lady Gail answered who previously I spoke eventually last night :
I told her I was phoning because I wanted to know where I’m going from tonight until 2nd June : I told her I’m a former Government Officer and in Homeless Prevention before retiring: And I was upset how not only my issues was dealt with but the other poor people after myself and I intend to speak out in person to alter their fate : Also future unnecessary more stressful situations from unacceptable ICAB mismanagement:
Today I was told I could move over to the other hotel but only until 1st June I had already checked availability last night and there were rooms until 2 nd June confirmed by current receptionist:
So I said to Gail I will take the room until 1 st then and waited : Gail then came back instantly and said oh it’s alright they can accommodate you until 2nd June booking been done : she apologised for the problem s but said she was busy last night : I said never mind I still intend to have everything looked into :
Also remember it happened only a few days ago to me as well

It has been a very challenging and daunting day . At 6 pm after several unsuccessful attempts to clear our blocked drains it became clear that due to blocked toilets we would need emergency accommodation for 5 adults the evening before Good Friday until at least Easter Tuesday . What a nightmare! As soon as I spoke to Gail I felt instantly reassured. She quietly and professionally took control of tne situation , filtered and clarified tne information she needed and efficiently and empathically looked at providing a workable solution for us . She was a calm , approachable and extremely helpful , an absolute joy to deal with . She is superb at her job and kept her sense of humour when mine had evaporated . She’s a credit to her company and I cannot praise her highly enough. I was extremely anxious and agitated , she listened , heard me and I’m delighted with tne super alternatives she found for me and my family with tne added time pressures of it being out of hours and Easter . Thank you again Gail , you’re a superstar.!

Avoid at all costs!! We were given the option to use ICAB’s bathroom pod as an alternative to a hotel/B&B as we have had our bathroom ripped out whilst it is going through a drying process due to a leak. The pod has been unusable since it was delivered and ICAB are useless at providing help. Full of lies and broken promises. So much more hassle than it is worth.

This is not a cost-saving company for insurers or people who need to find alternative accommodation.

They will not offer the best options for your temporary accommodation, and they will consciously omit some good options or ignore your suggestion. Sometimes they will provide a quotation much higher than the price on the internet. You should get the best quote from the accommodation you want to stay in by yourself and then show it to ICAB because ICAB will not do it for you.

Terrible customer service, we as a family of 4 were left homeless for 6 days after a fire in the flat above ours and are now awaiting work to start in 3 days time and we’re still no nearer to getting somewhere to stay. There is no information available when you phone them and we’re finding the whole process of dealing with them very stressful.

I fail to see the point of this company. We were homeless due to a fire at our building and with my wife 39 weeks pregnant and me working for an emergency service needed accommodation near the hospital with parking. Despite this we were offered properties miles away from anywhere and most did not even have parking. Trying to get an answer was like talking to a brick wall and the person who we dealt with (Cain) had zero empathy and at times didn’t even bother to take our calls and only communicated through the secretary. After deciding to get a hotel for temporary accommodation they stated there was no availability at the hotel adjacent to our flats however having a quick look on my phone proved there was so I they cannot even search the most basic requests. Slow, useless and with no one working weekends we were left without accommodation until someone returned Monday (which didn’t help as still did not help)

I am sick of dealing with this unprofessional cowboys that the council chose to employ, can’t even get the basics right without causing no end of stress and anxiety; really sad especially when you in distress as it is. There way of dealing with issues regarding food is keep receipts for food you have paid for and submit to the council, not helpful if you have no funds in the first place. Great customer services

Icab came and installed a cab and had great difficulty in doing so as witnessed by my son and neighbour. Upon removal had damaged my driveway, refused to take responsibily for it. I know for a fact it was not damaged before they installed the cab. Refused to come and inspect it. When they removed it, they were seen by two witnesses taking pictures of the damage but they claim they haven't created it. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

Be careful with this company. They say, as an accommodation provider, that they will pay you when the insurance company pays them. This is fine except it takes almost 2 months for them to get paid. Coincidentally they get paid just when I chase them. Then when they pay me they underpay - but of course that is just a keyboard error.
All in all not the greatest experience.