Advice re claim soakaway/drainage causing damp

dinky73

Hi

I was just hoping for some advice re a buildings insurance claim. I'll try to stick to the facts but it's a long story!

In October 14 we noticed to damp patches on an internal solid wall in the hall. We immediately called a plumber thinking we might have a leak. Plumber found absolutely no evidence of an internal leak. He did notice water flowing through a front drain (in front garden) when all other drains were dry. It was flowing through the joints in the brickwork and seemed to be coming from the ground rather than the drainage system. He suspected a possible mains leak from next door and Affinty water checked their mains and ours and confirmed no leaks. We were then perplexed. We monitored drain at front and water stopped a day or so after and we monitored for about 3-4 weeks. After a period of very heavy rain a drain on the patio in the back garden overflowed causing what we call a lake, which slowly drains away. This has happened before, during very heavy rain but always drains away slowly. We did not link this to the house damp or the water in the drain at the front of the property. After this heavy rain, and lake we noticed water pouring out of that drain at the front of the house. So we made the link.

We flooded the drain ourselves with a hose so a lake formed and waited a few hours and low and behold water showed in the front drain. To prove it was the same water we dyed it blue and 3 hours later blue water appeared out the front drain.

We called the insurance and we paid for a cctv to be done of the drains. The report said that there were no blockages but this drain that floods probably leads to an old soakaway that's failed. It was full of water so cctv was inconclusive. He also noticed cracks around the gully on the patio and said that is possibly how water is getting into the ground. Insurance weren't convinced and instructed Augur to come out. They cctv'd again and did their own dye test (which was inconclusive because he didn't sufficiently flood the drain, put enough dye in or wait the 3-4 hours to see if it came out of front drain). He noted the gully was cracked the whole way around (it looks like its detached from the top and literally dropped down). Our view is that when we have heavy rain the gully fills with water and overflows to form a lake. This means water is at the top of the gully and starts flowing into the ground through the cracks, under our house and out to the front of the house. Meanwhile our wall is soaking up water under the house.

Augur sent a report to the insurance which says no defects found. A gully that leads to an old soakaway is full of water but isn't covered as soakaways aren't covered as they will fail over time. No mention of the dye test, no mention of the cracks in the gully and water escaping into the ground. No mention of water coming out of the brickwork in the front drain.

My question is I know the old soakaway itself is not covered BUT is the gully that leads to the pipe, that leads to soakaway classed separately? If the gully drain itself is severely damaged and cracked causing escape of water into the ground is that covered? Or will it all come back to the soakaway. I was told I was covered for escape of water and trace and access. Having spent a fortune on plumbers and cctv I was at least hoping to be covered for the investigating work and possibly escape of water. Meanwhile our damp is getting worse, water continues to flow out of the front drain brickwork after heavy rain. The rear gully backs up with water and forms a small lake.

We are drafting a letter back to insurance but not sure what we should question. The report from Augur is very lacking in information and we know we CAN prove the water from the lake at the back is the water in the front drain. Proving its getting into the ground and under the house. Augur report says we do not believe there is any link with our damp and any underground drainage problems. Claim is dismissed. Our only hope is that the damaged cracked gully is classed as escape of water from a pipe.

Sorry for the massive essay.

Thanks

xMonsoonx

It depends on the policy wording, but in general damage is only covered if it caused by a one off incident and by something on the outside of the pipe.

Think, someone installing a new fence putting a post through a pipe, damage caused by roots or ground movement.

If the old soak away is just blocked by debris building up over time, the answer is from the insurance company is going to be no.

Maintaining your drains and property goes hand in hand with property ownership.

dinky73

Thanks, we've only lived here 18 months so haven't been here long term at all.

I think the drain gully damage looks like it was either damaged in the past or it's wear and tear or possibly ground movement. It looks like it's literally cracked and dropped down about half an inch all around.


I know the soakaway won't be covered but as they told me I was covered for escape of water from a pipe, appliance or fixed tank I thought maybe the fact water is escaping into the ground might me covered.


Thanks for the reply.

bbk87

dinky73 wrote: »

Thanks, we've only lived here 18 months so haven't been here long term at all.

I think the drain gully damage looks like it was either damaged in the past or it's wear and tear or possibly ground movement. It looks like it's literally cracked and dropped down about half an inch all around.


I know the soakaway won't be covered but as they told me I was covered for escape of water from a pipe, appliance or fixed tank I thought maybe the fact water is escaping into the ground might me covered.


Thanks for the reply.

Escape of water is where water escaped from a fixed appliance, water tank or pipe, that causes water damage to your property.

A gulley is a part of the drainage system, so it would come under the underground service pipes and cables section (not all policies have these as standard but most do).

The rules with underground drainage systems are different than all other claims, in that there is no wear and tear exclusion per se.

Even with escape of water claims, you aren't covered for the pipe itself unless it burst or leaked due to the pipe freezing.

Insurance co can only go by what Auger are saying. If it's the damp you're claiming for, your insurance co would likely ask you to get a damp specialist out to write a report which you could send in to them.

dinky73

So the saga continues. The company the insurance sent out have compiled a one page report leaving out any mention of s dye tests (ours and theirs), no mention or photographs of the cracked gulley. Just a basic few lines saying we don't feel the gulley or soakaway has anything to do with our damp.

Having ruled out all other causes and observing we have an issue with this drain and proving to ourselves water is getting from back drain to front drain this is very frustrating.


My husbands had voiced his concerns over their one sided and brief report only the be called back today to be told that the repirt will be amended to say they think the gulley damage is cosmetic (it's fully cracked all the way around and has dropped about an inch from the top), they say the gulley is too far from the damp in our house for it to be the cause (water travels doesn't it)?, they say we have a defective damp proof course.


They at no point have checked out internal wall, apart from me just showing them the patches. It's an internal wall, right in the centre of our house. Is it normal to assume this internal wall would have a damp proof course? I know the external walls do but wasn't sure if it was expected as standard that internal walks should also have a damp proof course.


In our view the old soakaway has failed (we don't know why but just told water isn't draining out). The gulley is severely cracked, when we have heavy rain the drain fills with water (over the cracked part) and the water is seeping in to the ground. The water is then finding s route through the ground (which slopes to the front of the house) and appearing through the brickwork at the sides of s drain in the front garden.


So hubby is awaiting a call from drainage company to discuss further. Our view is that they are not giving all the facts to our insurance company and are making assumptions regarding our DPC, having not even looked at it.