Water pipes insurance

Sueinbirmingham

Someone has offered a relative of mine insurance for his water pipes.

I can't see the point in it in relation to burst pipes in the house, since he has house insurance, but is there any point in it in relation to external pipes? Are these usually covered in buildings & contents insurance?

*Scarlett

The external pipes may be covered for accidental damage eg if someone put a spade through the pipe.

The home would normally be covered for water damage caused to the property if an external or internal pipe had burst but you would not normally be covered for the repair of the pipework unless you have a home emergency cover or cover for repairs to external pipework not caused by accidental damage.

You would need to check the appropriate section in the home insurance booklet to see exactly what the policy will cover.

Or you could ring the insurer for the home insurance and ask them - just make it clear that it is an enquiry only so that they don't register it as any type of claim or loss. The home insurer may be able to offer an additional product that you can add on to the home insurance to cover this type of thing but you would need to compare the type of cover with the one that covers the water pipes.

Hope this helps.

Sueinbirmingham

Thanks, that's really helpful.