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Home insurance claim rejected because I used drain cleaner

Hello

I clean my drains using soda crystals and white vinegar when they don't drain away quickly. With a bit of zoflora afterwards just like Mrs Hinch. Usually this fixes the issue.
I noticed my bathroom sink wasn't draining away couple of weeks ago so I did my trick and it worked fine. Then it came back again so I used a sink drain cleaner from a home bargain store (one of the orange ones), and that was great.

I went into the garden today and noticed the manhole cover for the drains had water coming up from it so I rang my home insurance (One call) as I have paid extra for home emergency cover. When on the claim call, I volunteered about the bathroom sink and what I'd seen... just to be helpful. To be told that they're rejecting my claim as I hadn't reported it within 24hrs of the issue (as per their T's and C's) and clearly to them this is an escalating issue for the last couple of weeks.

Now I wouldn't call my insurance every time I had to clean my plug holes.
I would only call them when I see something coming up from a manhole like I did today.
So can I appeal their rejection to my claim?

Any advice on how to proceed would be gratefully received as I didn't perceive a fault until today and I think most normal people would've done the same. Wouldn't they?
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Comments

  • Aylesbury_Duck
    Aylesbury_Duck Posts: 14,772 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Hello

    I clean my drains using soda crystals and white vinegar when they don't drain away quickly. With a bit of zoflora afterwards just like Mrs Hinch. Usually this fixes the issue.
    I noticed my bathroom sink wasn't draining away couple of weeks ago so I did my trick and it worked fine. Then it came back again so I used a sink drain cleaner from a home bargain store (one of the orange ones), and that was great.

    I went into the garden today and noticed the manhole cover for the drains had water coming up from it so I rang my home insurance (One call) as I have paid extra for home emergency cover. When on the claim call, I volunteered about the bathroom sink and what I'd seen... just to be helpful. To be told that they're rejecting my claim as I hadn't reported it within 24hrs of the issue (as per their T's and C's) and clearly to them this is an escalating issue for the last couple of weeks.

    Now I wouldn't call my insurance every time I had to clean my plug holes.
    I would only call them when I see something coming up from a manhole like I did today.
    So can I appeal their rejection to my claim?

    Any advice on how to proceed would be gratefully received as I didn't perceive a fault until today and I think most normal people would've done the same. Wouldn't they?
    Take a look at your policy. It should contain guidance on what you can do if you disagree with their decision.
  • I've been told by them I'd just have to raise a complaint and follow it through with them. However again its their decision and their team. 

    Like I said I don't think my timing was unreasonable and tried to fix the issue myself over the counter for my sink. But when I saw it from the manhole today I knew it was an insurance job. Or am I mistaken should I report every single time now my water wont drain away quickly enough from any household sink, to my insurance company? 

    At the moment (rightly or wrongly) I think I have acted in a reasonable manner and I think a 3rd party would agree with me. So how could I get a third party involved rather than going through their complaints department? Is their an ombudsman for this type of thing?

    And its only going to get worse should I pay for the repairs now and try to claim through the 3rd party decider outcome?
  • TripleH
    TripleH Posts: 3,080 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Sadly you would have to go through their complaints department. If you went to an Ombudsman they would refer you back to your insurer as you haven't exhausted all avenues with their complaints process.
    I would get the repairs done now and claim back the money. If you wait for a decision they would argue you were negligent in not minimising your losses.
    It is probably a blocked drain so a reasonably quick but unpleasant job to fix...
    May you find your sister soon Helli.
    Sleep well.
  • shiraz99
    shiraz99 Posts: 1,766 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Have you thought about contacting your water company? Is this a shared drain?
  • How do I find out if its a shared drain please?
  • Aylesbury_Duck
    Aylesbury_Duck Posts: 14,772 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I suspect that if the manhole is on your property, it's your liability.  It may be a shared drain (e.g. your neighbours drains run through it) but I doubt it will be the water company's responsibility.  What's needed is to establish where the blockage is, which means working out where the drain runs to and lifting the next manhole cover.  If that's full of water, the blockage is beyond that.  If it's not, the blockage is in your manhole or in the pipe connecting it to the next.  The blockage may not be a result of anything you've done - if it's a shared drain run, a neighbour further up the run from you might have flushed a nappy or something down there.

    At the end of the day, it's a problem you should fix asap, especially in this heat.  Worry about liability and cost afterwards.  You aren't seriously going to go through a complaints or appeal process whilst sewerage bubbles into your garden in summer heat, are you?
  • ThumbRemote
    ThumbRemote Posts: 4,666 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I suspect that if the manhole is on your property, it's your liability.  It may be a shared drain (e.g. your neighbours drains run through it) but I doubt it will be the water company's responsibility.  
    Shared drains are the responsibility of the water company. A drain is shared from the point where two properties drains join together. So chances are it will be a shared drain.
  • What exactly did you tell your insurance company?  You've obviously led them to believe that you needing to use a sink unblocker to clear your bathroom wash handbasin was in some way connected to the blocked drain, and that you should have informed them that the handbasin was slow emptying.  ( :D   :D  Obviously they must be desperate to avoid paying claims on their emergency cover).

    I suspect you have inadvertantly caused yourself a problem by volunteering irrelevant information (that you had earlier cleared your bathroom handbasin) to your insurer, and by telling your insurer that you had used a drain unblocker rather than a sink unblocker.  If our drains became blocked it would never cross my mind that use of a sink unblocker could be an early warning sign, and I wouldn't mention its if I was claiming on emergency cover.  Why would you?

    FWIW I use the one in the orange container all the time in our bathroom handbasin and it's never caused any problems.  (And it works wonderfully well!)

    Get DynoRod or MetroRod if you don't want to fix it yourself.  (I wouldn't even attempt to do so myself).  Then Complain to your insurer and if they don't cough up complain to the ombudsman.

    Then ask your insurer if they would like you to report every time you need to change a lightbulb (could be an early sign of of an impending electrical emergency), or every time you have a dripping tap (could be an early sign of a possible flooding situation) or every time etc etc...
  • Aylesbury_Duck
    Aylesbury_Duck Posts: 14,772 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I suspect that if the manhole is on your property, it's your liability.  It may be a shared drain (e.g. your neighbours drains run through it) but I doubt it will be the water company's responsibility.  
    Shared drains are the responsibility of the water company. A drain is shared from the point where two properties drains join together. So chances are it will be a shared drain.
    That's interesting, and I was told the opposite some years ago.  We have a manhole in our back garden and neighbours came round to rod it because there was a blockage between their (full) manhole and our empty one.  They had spoken to Kent County Council and the water company (Southern?) who both denied responsibility to the neighbours did a DIY job.
  • in_my_wellies
    in_my_wellies Posts: 1,658 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    My son had a blockage between his and the neighbours. It wasn't shared after all but the water company were the cheapest option for getting it unblocked so could be best to call them first
    Love living in a village in the country side
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