Is a collapsed drain usually covered by home insurance?

Benton00

Long story short, we had blockage issues a couple of weeks ago. Our neighbours had blockage issues too so the water company came out and sorted it for free.
We thought everything was fine, but a few days ago we had blockage issues again... except this time it's just our house. We called a private company out to fix the blockage, and within 5 minutes the guy said it was a collapsed drain. Instead of the £102 price we thought it was going to be (Still had to pay this fee) he said this problem would cost £1200 minimum to fix. We can't afford this atm, so we called our insurance company to see if it's covered. However, we can't seem to get a clear answer whether it's covered in our policy or not. We wont find out until Tuesday which is when they're coming to our house to see the problem. I guess I want peace of mind or the brutal truth whether this is something that's generally covered by home insurance.

Forgive my ignorance and lack of knowledge on this, but it's the little drain outside of my kitchen that's blocked. So far we aren't seeing any blockage issues in the house, everything is draining fine. Although this little drain is very slowly overflowing into our garden.

csgohan4

Usually anything that happens over time, won't be covered by insurers. Collapse drains will likely be one of them, it doesn't happen over night

Zorillo

On the contrary, if the water was draining normally and then it stopped draining normally due to a collapse, it is likely to be covered as Accidental Damage under a standard buildings policy.

csgohan4

Zorillo said:

On the contrary, if the water was draining normally and then it stopped draining normally due to a collapse, it is likely to be covered under a standard buildings policy.

The difficulty will be in proving this to the insurer and the insurer will take the default stance of it happening over time

paddyandstumpy

Zorillo said:

On the contrary, if the water was draining normally and then it stopped draining normally due to a collapse, it is likely to be covered under a standard buildings policy.

I disagree. 

Home insurance covers defined perils, fire, flood, theft etc. 

For cover to respond to a claim, you need to prove you have a valid loss which can be attributed to one of the insured perils. 

I'd not expect this to be covered, unless perhaps under accidental damage, if you can pinpoint the cause of the collapse (AD cover usually stipulates something like 'sudden and identifiable cause'). 

Zorillo

I've edited for clarity, but yes I meant under the Accidental Damage peril. 

If the flow of water stopped suddenly (as described by OP), it'd be for the insurer to demonstrate that that the damage was gradually operating or due to wear and tear or lack of maintenance, or it would be covered.

Benton00

Zorillo said:

I've edited for clarity, but yes I meant under the Accidental Damage peril. 

If the flow of water stopped suddenly (as described by OP), it'd be for the insurer to demonstrate that that the damage was gradually operating or due to wear and tear or lack of maintenance, or it would be covered.

Is it possible for lots of rain to cause a sudden collapse? We had about an inch of rain flooded in our garden but what's odd is that it all drained away. 

Benton00

I'm starting to wonder if the private company lied about the drain collapse to make more money, or maybe I'm being cynical. Will find out on Tuesday and let you know. Thanks for all the responses.

TELLIT01

I've found this which may or may not help "

It used to be a legal requirement for homeowners to maintain shared 'private' sewers within their property — as well as some drains outside the property boundaries.

However, as of October 2011, things have changed. Water and sewerage companies are now responsible for these repairs. But don't expect them to shout it from the rooftops."

So if the sewer also feeds other properties the water company may be responsible.