Water pipe coverage

cb101

Hi Insco

I did call my insurance company (esure) who told me I had to contact the emergency repair folk who I think are probably homeserve and they told me it wasn't covered because it wasn't an emergency and wasn't going to cause damage to my house!. I think I then spoke to esure again but I suspect because it wasn't actually accidental damage and just normal wear and tear/ detioration, it wasn't covered.
Ironically I am now about to get my moneys worth from both homeserve and esure as I'm one of those poor souls who has returned from holiday to a burst water pipe inside my loft causing major damage :-(
regards

C

Pau_l_2

I recently had a leaking lead pipe in my driveway that I had to get repaired myself. Didn't flood anything, just bubbled away.
I keep being sent this offer from Homeserve for 99p a month to cover the water pipes and keep thinking about it. However would it actually cover anything for example if I had a similar leak?
I have looked at the terms and conditions which say
Emergency/ies: sudden and unforeseen damage to the
underground water supply pipe which immediately:
a) exposes you to a risk to your health; or
b) creates a risk of loss of or damage to the property or
c) makes the buildings uninhabitable.

Surely a leak in your supply pipe outside your propert, in your garden or driveway is not very likely to do any of these things. Presumably a burst lead pipe will always be the owners responsibility and be down to wear and tear??
Any advice? will I just be wasting £12 ?



Good point, however, a leaking drain or water supply main (in particular) can cause subsidence; hence I'd argue the 'creates a risk of loss or damage to the property" line.

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.

Quite a number of Insurers do pay for accidental damage to pitch fibre pipe - it depends on the policy wording and the actions of the Insurer at renewal / inception.

Agreed - but you need to differentiate between accidental damage and wear and tear. AD is putting a pick axe through the pipe or something similar whereas delamination of a pitch fibre pipe could almost be a definition of wear and tear! It is wear and tear that isn't covered by a domestic policy.

Rains_2

Pau_l wrote: »

I recently had a leaking lead pipe in my driveway that I had to get repaired myself. Didn't flood anything, just bubbled away.
I keep being sent this offer from Homeserve for 99p a month to cover the water pipes and keep thinking about it. However would it actually cover anything for example if I had a similar leak?
I have looked at the terms and conditions which say
Emergency/ies: sudden and unforeseen damage to the
underground water supply pipe which immediately:
a) exposes you to a risk to your health; or
b) creates a risk of loss of or damage to the property or
c) makes the buildings uninhabitable.

Surely a leak in your supply pipe outside your propert, in your garden or driveway is not very likely to do any of these things. Presumably a burst lead pipe will always be the owners responsibility and be down to wear and tear??
Any advice? will I just be wasting £12 ?



Good point, however, a leaking drain or water supply main (in particular) can cause subsidence; hence I'd argue the 'creates a risk of loss or damage to the property" line.

They'll temporarily patch your lead piping to stop the leak, then advise you to get it renewed until you can have any further policy cover on that element.

Also In the exclusions subsidence is listed as something that the insurer won't be liable for.

jonty03

Evening, Does anyone have experience of HomeServe and their reaction times for leaking pipes? eg 'will aim to be with you within 2 hours' translates to 'you may get someone in the next few days - if we're not too busy!!!'

Quote "In the event of a household emergency, just call HomeServe via the 24 hour claims line (open 365 days a year) and a HomeServe approved engineer will aim to be with you within 2 hours to make a repair or replacement."

snoman

I am regularly bombarded by Homeserve trying to get me to fork out for this insurance. The letters always arrive in an envelope with a Thames Water logo to make me think its something important. This must be a nice little earner for them because they are so persistent. I have checked my buildings insurance policy and this already provides me with adequate cover. There must be a lot of people who are conned into buying this insurance without first checking their existing buildings insurance. I have been a householder for many years and am now retired; I've never experienced any problems with supply pipes in any of the properties I've lived in, neither do I know of anyone who has (apart from this forum). Perhaps this is just down to pure luck and maybe I should buy a few lottery tickets.