When is it worth claiming on house insurance?

[t0bytoo]

Just moved into an old house and had a burst pipe in the concret beneath the kitchen floor. The insurance covered most of a new kitchen.

Once they'd established that it was valid claim they send round damp experts and were very easy to work with.

[FrontEnder]

If the tap was faulty, and you had not repaired it, then it is unlikely to be covered. Our bathroom floor (chipboard) disintegrated because the sealant round the bath wasn't watertight - they said it was wear and tear so not covered. Cost us £1000s. Similarly when the water pipe under the drive leaked - they have a limited life and are expected to fail after n years, so not covered.

This isn't the case in my experience. I had small section of the house with a flat roof that leaked. The assessor came out and said the leek was caused by regular wear and tear.

Repairing the roof was not covered, but the damage caused by the escape of water was. The insurance company were happy to pay out a for the damage covered, this included replacing the plasterboard, laminate floor and re-painting all the walls. The cash for this came to a few hundred pounds, which was enough to get the roof sorted + materials for re-decorating. The ceiling actually seemed fine, so I just repainted it with stain-block and it looked fine, did all the rest of the work myself.

To the OP, just claim. An assessor will come out and it's only at that point if you choose to go ahead will it actually be a claim that you have to declare on new quotes etc. If they accept the claim, they cover the cost of paying someone to do the work, so if you can get a cash settlement instead and can do the work yourself, you'll be quids in.

[radish2008]

We just had a similar thing - kitchen flooded due to hot water feed corroding and the flexi hose bursting - flooded the living room as well so new cabinets and new flooring in kitchen and living room - £2k worth of damage. They wouldn't pay for the replacement tap.

[vetran]

If the tap was faulty, and you had not repaired it, then it is unlikely to be covered. Our bathroom floor (chipboard) disintegrated because the sealant round the bath wasn't watertight - they said it was wear and tear so not covered. Cost us £1000s. Similarly when the water pipe under the drive leaked - they have a limited life and are expected to fail after n years, so not covered.

£1000s?

Blimey I got a load of replacement chipboard and the wife came home to me hanging off beams screwing it down.

She was a bit upset about coming home to find the bath on the driveway, I explained it was there or next time she used it she would drop through into the garage.

[SueEllen]

Do bear in mind that once you have this conversation with them they WILL record it and you MUST then declare this from now on, regardless of claim. People have seriously got caught out with this before.

And people on claims lines tend not to be the most intelligent people.

Only if you take it further due to their initial incompetence do you get to deal with people with intelligence.

[mudskipper]

If the tap was faulty, and you had not repaired it, then it is unlikely to be covered. Our bathroom floor (chipboard) disintegrated because the sealant round the bath wasn't watertight - they said it was wear and tear so not covered. Cost us £1000s. Similarly when the water pipe under the drive leaked - they have a limited life and are expected to fail after n years, so not covered.

[vwdan]

Do bear in mind that once you have this conversation with them they WILL record it and you MUST then declare this from now on, regardless of claim. People have seriously got caught out with this before.

[SueEllen]

Yeah that makes sense.

Will an insurer let you phone up and speak to a human about this sensibly, or will the computer force me to submit a claim and see what happens?

They all have claims lines.

BTW the proper name for water leaks is "escape of water" which covers a range of water issues not just burst pipes so if you mention a faulty tap then it may come under that. The excess is more for that. So depending on the cost of repairing it, it may not be worth claiming.

[d000hg]

If you knew about the tap and plug fault before hand then it isn't an insurance issue, but if you didn't then it is an insurance issue.

Yeah that makes sense.

Will an insurer let you phone up and speak to a human about this sensibly, or will the computer force me to submit a claim and see what happens?

[Lance]

If you knew about the tap and plug fault before hand then it isn't an insurance issue, but if you didn't then it is an insurance issue.

if you have accidental damage (or stupidity insurance) then it's likely covered.

[SueEllen]

Our utility room is linked to the downstairs loo. It turns out the hot tap in the loo has a fault where the tap sometimes turns off completely as the water gets hot and it's hard to know if you've turned it all the way off. And another fault where the plug doesn't drain properly.

So someone used the loo, washed their hands and left. That evening, we found the whole area awash... the tap had turned on and overflowed the sink, running for who knows how long before we noticed. It's a concrete floor with laminate on top which is now in a pretty bad state (yes I know laminate in a wet room is a bad idea, it was there when we arrived).

I initially just thought "bollocks, that's another thing to pay for" but am now wondering if this is what insurance is for. The claim would I guess be to re-floor the two rooms and get the sink fixed. Few hundred quid if we get someone to do it all for us, I suppose?
But is this even worth claiming in terms of subsequent premium rises, paperwork hassle, etc... I've never claimed before on house insurance for anything.

If you knew about the tap and plug fault before hand then it isn't an insurance issue, but if you didn't then it is an insurance issue.

Oh and check the small print about water leaks.

[FrontEnder]

AFAIK any repairs are just to "Make Good" up to a certain maximum.

Read your policy wording, I doubt they'd pay for a new floor because otherwise people would be popping their waterbeds upstairs and claiming for a completely new downstairs lounge and kitchen which ended up water damaged.

They should do. It will be up to a certain £ per sq m of flooring.

[FrontEnder]

I've claimed on house insurance 3 times. Each time, The renewal quote was horrendous, but was about the same or cheaper with a new provider.

All 3 were within 2-3 years of buying our first home (first was about 6 months after moving in), so I had to declare all of them up until about 5 years ago. Insurance premium was never more than about £30 a month (although I wasn't living in a particularly big house then). Total value of claims is probably about £10k total, so I reckon I'm in profit from home insurance for a good few years yet.

So in my experience, yes it's worth it it. I don't think house insurance is like car insurance where premiums go up massively because you've had an accident.

[rl4engc]

AFAIK any repairs are just to "Make Good" up to a certain maximum.

Read your policy wording, I doubt they'd pay for a new floor because otherwise people would be popping their waterbeds upstairs and claiming for a completely new downstairs lounge and kitchen which ended up water damaged.

[d000hg]

Our utility room is linked to the downstairs loo. It turns out the hot tap in the loo has a fault where the tap sometimes turns off completely as the water gets hot and it's hard to know if you've turned it all the way off. And another fault where the plug doesn't drain properly.

So someone used the loo, washed their hands and left. That evening, we found the whole area awash... the tap had turned on and overflowed the sink, running for who knows how long before we noticed. It's a concrete floor with laminate on top which is now in a pretty bad state (yes I know laminate in a wet room is a bad idea, it was there when we arrived).

I initially just thought "bollocks, that's another thing to pay for" but am now wondering if this is what insurance is for. The claim would I guess be to re-floor the two rooms and get the sink fixed. Few hundred quid if we get someone to do it all for us, I suppose?
But is this even worth claiming in terms of subsequent premium rises, paperwork hassle, etc... I've never claimed before on house insurance for anything.