Buildings Insurance, Tracing and Accessing Leaks, Who to Choose??

VictorM_2

A leak as you describe would not normally be covered under trace and access cover as that is for internal plumbing, the damage you describe would be considered under the Accidental Damage to Underground Pipes & Cables cover.

Give them a ring, they will generally send someone out.

This is advice as to how most policies work, there may be special wording in the Tesco policy and I do not know what level of cover you have.

Let me know if you have any questions.

FlameCloud

I would recomend that you call your water board first of all- there were significant changed wef October 2011 that makes the water board liable for far more of the supply pipe network than they were before.

They would normally send somebody out and tell you if it is their responsibilty first.

VictorM_2

FlameCloud wrote: »

I would recomend that you call your water board first of all- there were significant changed wef October 2011 that makes the water board liable for far more of the supply pipe network than they were before.

They would normally send somebody out and tell you if it is their responsibilty first.

That is good point, your liability would be based on the answers to the following questions:

- Is the drain shared? If so are your neighbours also having problems?
- Is the leak within the property boundary?

tommie

- Is the drain shared? No.

If so are your neighbours also having problems? No.

- Is the leak within the property boundary? Yes, probably.

There is a stop valve out on the footpath which i can turn off and the noise inside stops, this would be Water Board property. I`m assuming the mains pipe then runs into my property under a pathway and enters the house at the back door. Looking at Tescos Policy it terms cover as `within the boundary of your own home`. In the list it mentions `service tanks`, `drains` and `pipes and cables`.
Its a bit vague if they also cover the cost to fix it or just tracing the leak.

Thanks to all so far....

TSx

They will not cover the costs unless it is accidental damage - escape of water will cover damage caused by the water escaping. Accidental damage would mean something external - eg tree roots damaging the pipe. If it is just a worn pipe, there would be no cover.

Each insurer has their own way of dealing with something like this - some will ask you to get someone out first of all, to confirm what has caused the leak, some will arrange for a contractor to come out.