Groundwater Flooding - Home Insurance

sk123_3

I had flooding in my cellar at my house last week (Essex/London). Following the torrential rain on Thursday, I had about 5-6 inches of flooding in my 13 sq m cellar. Naturally, my first reaction was to get in touch with Thames Water (TW) to investigate the cause. TW ruled about clean water and sewage after negative chlorine and ammonia test. They conjectured that the flooding could have been caused by natural spring water or surface water. They are due to schedule visit from their Seepage team to establish the actual cause of the flooding.

Thursday flooding was preceded by 2 inch flooding on Monday, on which occasion I could actually see the spot on the cellar concrete floor where the water was bubbling through.

I have home building insurance with Admiral, and no content insurance. Since the contents stored in cellar were not that precious, I am frankly not bothered about whatever content damage I suffered.

Admiral's policy covers flooding (with £500 excess to come from me). When I first reported the problem to Admiral, they agreed that prima facie I seemed to have a case for claim and they duly scheduled a visit from loss adjuster. Yesterday (4 days later after I had cleared all the standing water from flooding) the adjuster from Cunningham Lindsey visited the property and after 1 minute of cursory look concluded that the flooding was caused by "groundwater" which is excluded from "their" definition of flooding and hence the insurance company will not allow the claim. He further stated that my property was old, built in 1940s, which could explain flooding (to be honest, so are millions of others in UK; and my property is in very good condition structurally and otherwise). If the flooding had happened from the street-side or outside then the insurer would cover it, however groundwater ingress will not be covered for.


This is my first experience with any event at my property, which I bought only a year back. I would like to hear from the members their experience with making claim for flooding and understand whether I am being denied unfairly by Insurance company for a genuine claim.

The flooding was a harrowing experience with I needing to bail out over 100 buckets of water (with several 100 litres still soaked into concrete floor). I desperately want to prevent the recurrence of flooding.

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Few facts and details:

1. Policy document that Admiral sent me mentioned only flooding, without any exclusion for groundwater. It was only the loss adjuster who pulled up a screen on his ipad, which mentioned this exclusion. Is the insurer or adjuster pulling a fast one here?

2. Is "groundwater flooding" a flooding?
A cursory search on the internet shows me that there are 2 types of groundwater flooding - one caused by gradual rising water table (which most insurance would not cover for) and another related to heavy rain (which some insurance companies are willing to consider as flooding).

These links provide an overview of how different policies view flooding:

denied insurance payouts due to groundwater exemption

Insurers refuse payout for groundwater damage

Financial Ombudsman on flooding claims


3. First of all, it hasn't been established that my flooding was caused by groundwater. TW's prelim report mentions possibility of the flooding caused by natural spring water or surface drain blockage.

Furthermore, this link from British Geological Survey clarifies that since my flooding occurred on days of heavy rain, it is unlikely to have been caused by rising groundwater level.

4. My next door neighbour's cellar also got flooded on Thursday. I understand that they had recently water-proofed their cellar floor. Does that help establish my case for claim any better?


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My questions:

1. Based on the details above, do I have a strong case for claim? I am willing to invest more effort into pursuing this only if I gather from the members that I have realistic chance of successful claim.

2. If so, how should I go about pressing my claim? Should I write or speak to Admiral about this first? At what point should I involve the ombudsman etc.?

3. What remedial work can I expect from Insurance company if they agree to pay for the claim? Will they help me get the cellar "tanked" (i.e. extensively water-proofed)? Will it be just a superficial repair work that they will pay for?

The loss adjuster clearly told me that insurance company will never pay for a preventive repair work (such as tanking). The flooding to him didn't per se constitute damage to the property.

FYI, tanking the cellar could cost me anywhere between £1,000 to £5,000, depending on the extent of work, quality and technology.

4. Does any of you have specific groundwater flooding claim experience? Anything specific to Admiral?

Your inputs will be much appreciated.

FutureGirl

You need to read your particular booklet, for this current years policy - when did your policy start?

From reading the Admiral policy booklets online, they all seem to exclude claims by flooding, due to rising ground water (page 19/20 in the booklets). Although it is a genuine claim, in that it isn't fraudulent, it doesn't mean it is covered.

Cunningham Lindsey are the loss adjustors, so they are the ones that will obtain the cause of damage, and that is the only information the insurers themselves will be able to go by. If you are unhappy with that, you need to register a formal complaint with Admiral. Call them and tell them you want to make a complaint regarding the declining of the claim. They will then look into it.

If they agree to cover the claim they will not 'tank' the cellar. They will put you back in the position you were in before the incident happened. So they will deal with re-plastering walls etc and dealing with the floor, but they will not install any preventative measures, as that isn't what insurance is for.

huckster

You should think about getting an alternative report done from a surveyor who specialises in flooding cases.

Was this ground water or natural flooding ? I think it can be difficult to tell and some loss adjusters feel pressured to decline claims, for fear of their firms losing Insurers business.

Most loss adjusters are not experts in looking at such flood claims. They only go by what they have been told in courses they attended and any experienced gained. They might not be experts in determining exact cause.

The FOS site is worth looking at and searching for ground water flooding, as they have looked at this.

rs65

is there any actual damage?

sk123_3

FutureGirl wrote: »

If they agree to cover the claim they will not 'tank' the cellar. They will put you back in the position you were in before the incident happened. So they will deal with re-plastering walls etc and dealing with the floor, but they will not install any preventative measures, as that isn't what insurance is for.

The Financial Ombudsman link that I posted earlier has this to say:

"We occasionally say that an insurer should install tanking where there wasn't any before. This would be where it is clear that if the insurer did not do so, the repair suggested would only be temporary and likely to fail in the short to middle term. This sometimes happens when we are satisfied that an un-tanked room was watertight before, but has flooded because of a rise in the water table."

What do you think the above could mean for me?

I will follow your suggestion on the further course of action.

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huckster wrote: »

Was this ground water or natural flooding ?

Based on the technical definition of groundwater, surface water and flooding [and also the precedence of "Rohan Investments vs Cunningham (1998)"], I think that establishing that flooding was caused by heavy rainfall rather than ground-table rise shouldn't be too onerous.

I found a helpful Telegraph 2014 news which mentions that:
"Insurers Admiral said: “If water rises, or floods a cellar following heavy rain, such as we have had recently, then we would consider paying out. If the build-up of water is gradual, over months, we could look to exclude it.”"

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rs65 wrote: »

is there any actual damage?

That's a "thousand pound" question!
(i) The wooden step/ladder that leads into the cellar seems to waterlogged at one inaccessible end which has caused it to become unstable.
(ii) While cleaning up, I recovered several pieces of plasters, grit etc. that chipped/eroded as a result of flooding.
(iii) More specifically, I could see one point of ingress (a small 0.5x0.5cm crack on the cellar floor through which water bubbled through).
(iv) There are few other inch-deep craters on the floor that I discovered after clean-up (but I can't say or establish definitively that these were caused by or cause of flooding)
(v) The concrete floor seems heavily soaked with water that I left standing for couple of days (no matter how much I dry it up, it becomes wet again after an hour)
(vi) besides that the walls are damp up to 5-6 inches (i.e. the level up to which the flooding reached

If there are more damages besides these that my untrained eyes and inexperience can't see, then it will probably take a estimate or quote from a basement builder to quantify and qualify the extent of damage.

Should I go for one?

FutureGirl

The issue I can see, from what you have said, is the crack in the floor is allowing the water to ingress. So, what has caused that crack to form? That, to me, is the question.

The link says that the FOS would only ask an insurer to do this where any other repair would be temporary. That doesn't seem to be the case in this situation as the crack is allowing the water to come into the property. Your claim is different to those you have linked to, as the facts are not the same.

maddogb

it's now getting to a point where the average policy contains so many exclusions it is barely worth insuring.
I mean really, unless the insured has taken an axe to a water main does it really matter where the flood came from?

sk123_3

FutureGirl wrote: »

The bit you're referring to in the Ombudsman link is where the room was tanked, but there is now water ingress. That is the instance that they will then look to re-tank the room as, otherwise, any repair would only be temporary.

The crack is where the water is coming in. Therefore it needs to be determined what has caused that crack. As, if the crack wasn't there, the water wouldn't be ingressing.

You could get a builder out etc, but that cost would fall to yourself, unless the insures agree to cover the cost IF it turns out the incident is an insured event.

I think you have overlooked this highlighted bit.

"We occasionally say that an insurer should install tanking where there wasn't any before. This would be where it is clear that if the insurer did not do so, the repair suggested would only be temporary and likely to fail in the short to middle term. This sometimes happens when we are satisfied that an un-tanked room was watertight before, but has flooded because of a rise in the water table."


Regarding the crack, I believe that it was caused by the pressure of the water (whether ground/spring/surface). Mind you, my neighbour's cellar (apparently recently waterproofed) also got flooded.


I would only get a builder to assess the damage and get the quote (I assume this I can get for free). I don't think I should start any work without having resolved this with insurer, one way or the other.

sk123_3

maddogb wrote: »

it's now getting to a point where the average policy contains so many exclusions it is barely worth insuring.
I mean really, unless the insured has taken an axe to a water main does it really matter where the flood came from?

True. The way I see it, this flooding was a natural event/cause (not a man-made event) for which I wasn't responsible in any form. My simple mind believes that any honest insurance policy should cover for it.

I would have a much easier claim if the property was flooded from the outside (which generally happens gradually enough for one to prepare defences) or there was a burst pipe (even though due to own negligence). How bizarre!

To be honest, the only reason I have building insurance is that it is mandatory for all mortgaged properties.

FutureGirl

You need to complain to Admiral to let them know you're unhappy with their adjusters decision. Then see what Admiral do about it then. They might send someone else out, or they might ask you to obtain something in writing.

I'd also get a quote for the work that needs doing to put you back in the same position you were in. And also ask them to put in writing what they feel has caused the damage, and what has caused that crack in the floor as it's likely the insurer will ask for that.