Buildings insurance claim query

essjae

I think I may have gotten myself in a bit of a pickle....

Just had to get someone out to unblock the drains, and the chap reckons that the pipe has collapsed, so I'm going to need to claim on insurance to get it investigated, then dug out and fixed (which without insurance would cost over 1500 quid apparently, and I don't have that sort of money to hand).

Now the problem is that I only got around to sorting out buildings insurance for my ground-floor flat last week, as it was previously covered by the freeholder's policy for the whole building, but the freehold was transferred over to me and the other flats a couple of months ago, and we hadn't found a chance to sort out the insurance due to people being away etc. So in the end I just went and got insurance last week for my flat only as the delays were worrying me, and none too soon it seems!

So my query is - is there going to be a problem with having to claim so soon? I suspect the collapse in the pipe happened quite some time ago, possibly even before I moved in, as the neighbour mentioned that the previous occupants had had problems with it all the time.... there is no way to tell for definite though. The drains man said it would be classed as accidental damage and shouldn't be a problem to claim for, but obviously he didn't know my exact situation with the insurance having only just been taken out.

To add to the disaster, the drain is shared between 3 flats, so presumably as all 3 share the freehold of the building, we are equally liable. After I told the girl in one of the other flats about this, she checked her insurance, and realized she also had only contents covered, so went out and quickly got buildings cover yesterday - will she have a problem claiming too?
Haven't had a chance to speak to the other flat yet, but they may well be in the same situation.

Any advice? Sorry for the long post, if anything is unclear let me know and I will clarify!
Thanks

amancalledmartin

Hi essjae

I don't know if you've already moved on with this as it was a few days ago. I think you might have a problem claiming if the drain has collapsed because insurers often class this as a gradually operating clause. If there is tree root damage then that classes as accidental damage and will be covered. But if the drain is old and has just given way then you might struggle. Alternatively there might be a subsidence issue, but most insurance policies exclude subs cover to drains and pipes.

Your flatmate will probably struggle with her new policy as it will be easy for them to prove that she knew about the problem before taking it out. Depends on the company though. Some are too lazy to bother checking!

I hope you have a better response than I predict, anyway. Good luck!

cogito

I'd be pretty sure that the damage occurred before you took out the policy especially as you say that there had been previous problems. You would also need to establish that the damage was actually covered e.g. ingress of roots rather than a gradually operating cause.

Then you would have to see if anything can be claimed under the policy in force at the time which would mean getting the previous freeholder involved. TBH, I don't much fancy your chances.