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Possible water leak and issue with insurance company

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:30 am
by wayoutwest
The local water board have suggested that my water meter situated outside my garden wall is going up at a fast rate as they suspect a water leak, they suggest it is on my side of the boundary. I decided to contact my home insurer. I Spent a long time going through the issue on the phone, there is absolutely no evidence of a leak in the property in the house or garden, however they refuse to cover it on the grounds that it is an “ accident” The policy does not cover “accidents” I assumed an accident was something that I or one of my guests had an influence over. Ie something that happened as a result of some action that took place. Nothing has taken place, no contact has been made with any of the water pipes. It seems as if my home insurer can use the “accident” description to refuse any incident and not cover it. In my opinion this makes my policy useless, as I would only claim for things that happened out of my control, every claim is an “accident” If a wall fell down would this be “an accident”? and therefore not covered either! I am shocked and now feel very insecure in a house possibly not adequately covered by insurance. Ps on setting up the policy there is no box to tick that actually allows you to cover “accidents”.

Re: Possible water leak and issue with insurance company

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:39 pm
by stoneyboy
Hi wayoutwest
If you ask the right questions of the right people at your water board they may arrange for the mains pipe to your house to be replaced at no cost to you and refund you the extra water used due to the leak.
Regards S

Re: Possible water leak and issue with insurance company

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2021 10:23 pm
by wayoutwest
Thanks for the reply, do you think the water board would replace the pipe if it was found to be leaking in a place between my garden wall and my house? I assumed that area would not be their responsibility? Hence my call to the insurance company. I hope they will as they are coming out to make more of an inspection next week.

Re: Possible water leak and issue with insurance company

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2021 9:26 pm
by stoneyboy
Hi wayoutwest
Depends on your water board - some will replace the pipe up to your house wall.
Regards S

Re: Possible water leak and issue with insurance company

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 1:06 pm
by veritasqs
I had a similar issue a couple of years ago. The water bill was huge!

The man from UU came with a rod to determine whether water was passing through the meter.

Richard Barnes