Water pipe coverage

moosegirl

Does anyone pay insurance to cover their water pipes from their house boundary to the path? It seems this is the responsibility of the water supplier. We've received a letter offering insurance from £12 per annum (normally £28). Is it worth it and should we have it? Any help appreciated, thanks,

achtunglady

It is a good idea and a good deal, a pound a month is cracking!
A few months back on some kind of consumer program, people had raw sewage seeping into their house, but the water company said it was their responsibilty as the burst pipe was on their property, nevermind it was the water companys duty to maintain their pipes, so for peace of mind and as an overlap on house insurance where they wont cover fixing leaks, only the damage caused by them then it makes sense. What company is it as my mum is looking for the same pipes insurance, thanks

moosegirl

Thanks for that. The company is HomeServe tel no. 08000731236.
:T

deanos

Its only £12 for the first year then goes up to nearly £30 if i recall correctly, your warer company may offer a one off free repair anyway so its a waste of money if you havent used that service yet.

achtunglady

Well i'd prefer not to be knee deep in sh**, to be told by the water board that "sorry its the wrong type of leak" clap trap, so going with the pipes insurance is a better idea.

deanos

Thought this was a money saving site, you may already be covered check with your water providor, why pay twice ?

Pau_l_2

Actually the cover under a standard insurance policy with a reputable company is pretty wide ranging. It won't pay out for delaminated pitch fibre drains but other than that and assuming that you haven't just taken out the policy, the policy pays for most repairs under the Accidental Damage to Underground Services section of the policy. Accidental Damage is essentially anything that hasn't been done on purpose because wear and tear to drains is hard to prove. Certainly any damage caused by the escape of water is covered under the escape of water section of the policy. The Homeserve policy only covers repairs, ie patch repairs and the odds are that if a water supply main has failed through wear and tear it needs replacing in the near term rather than repairing. The policy only pays out for emergency repairs and they will probably seek a contribution from your household insurer so you will probably end up with a claim on that policy as well. In my view it is poor value for money particularly as most, if not all water suppliers will attend to one burst water main free of charge.

rigsby75

i've had a water supply pipe burst under my garden a couple of days ago. i've had homeserve water insurance for 4 out of the past 5 years and guess what it lapsed about 6 months ago so i wasnt covered.

no prob i thought, i'll use the one off offer of a free repair from south staffs water. so i ring up and guess what, it had already been used 4 years before i moved into property. !!!!!!!!!

these water companys are making millions in profit and south staffs didn't want to know and didnt care, all they said is it's your prob, u fix it. cheers i thought.

the house was built in the 70's and they used some black plastic piping which goes brittle and splits, the whole housing estate will eventually need all the pipes replacing. i asked south staffs if they would make a contribution to having my supply pipe replaced instead of me patching it up everytime it leaks but again they wern't interested in the slightest.

i feel OFWAT should be doing more to help with regards to this situation. but hey ho thats privatization for you.

in the end i had to pay £200 to get it dug up and repaired, luckily it was in the middle of my garden so wasnt difficult to get at. next time i wont be so lucky so i'll be keeping the insurance for as long as i'm living at this address.

homeserve are doing a half price water supply cover at 99p a month so i've just signed up.

rigsby75

oh and another thing, walk down your street and look at everybodys drive, if it looks like its been dug up before in certain places then it was prob due to work being carried out on supply pipes.

i walked down my estate the other day and it looks like there's been plenty of probs previously.

Altarf

rigsby75 wrote: »

the house was built in the 70's and they used some black plastic piping which goes brittle and splits,

So shouldn't you be moaning to the house builders who used cheap materials, rather than a company that had nothing to do with creating the problem?

AMO

Pau_l wrote: »

Actually the cover under a standard insurance policy with a reputable company is pretty wide ranging. It won't pay out for delaminated pitch fibre drains but other than that and assuming that you haven't just taken out the policy, the policy pays for most repairs under the Accidental Damage to Underground Services section of the policy. Accidental Damage is essentially anything that hasn't been done on purpose because wear and tear to drains is hard to prove. Certainly any damage caused by the escape of water is covered under the escape of water section of the policy. The Homeserve policy only covers repairs, ie patch repairs and the odds are that if a water supply main has failed through wear and tear it needs replacing in the near term rather than repairing. The policy only pays out for emergency repairs and they will probably seek a contribution from your household insurer so you will probably end up with a claim on that policy as well. In my view it is poor value for money particularly as most, if not all water suppliers will attend to one burst water main free of charge.

I'm with Severn Trent water. Do they give one free burst water main? I've always wondered whether the water pipe thing was a con or whether its a genuine insurance thing to be considered.

Our house was built in 1994 and its on the top end of a slope so I am unlikely to be knee deep in $h*t, but is it worth paying for?

Which are the best companies?

Thanx

AMO