Insurance not covering condensation damage

Alphatauri

I would appreciate confirmation that most typical home buildings and content insurance won’t cover this scenario.

Two bed mid Terrance property c25 years old.   I went away for a fortnight leaving my central heating to come on twice a day at 15c to prevent freezing pipes etc. when I returned home water was dripping through a bedroom ceiling. Emergency home repairs call out identified the ball valve in the loft water tank had failed and as a result condensation had formed on the outside of the tank and then leaked through to the bedroom. Valve replaced and I put in a claim for water damage to the ceiling, carpet and a couple of pieces of furniture. 

My insurance company has today advised me I am not covered for condensation damage and so it’s down to me to source and pay for someone to repair the ceiling, carpet etc.  I’m slightly shell shocked that having paid insurance that I am not covered for this damage. A quick google seems to confirm this is typical.

Is this correct or is there something I have missed in making a claim.

Thank you

diystarter7

Hi

What do your T&Cs on your policy state?

I'm confused how/why condesation would forum outside the water tank and then cause damage

Apols if I have misunderstood you

Thanks

macman

Condensation would normally be considered to be a preventable occurrence. I too am struggling to understand how a ballc*ck failure can result in enough condensation to pass through loft insulation and a ceiling.
The issue here is surely whether the fault that caused the condensation was itself insured?

DullGreyGuy

diystarter7 said:

I'm confused how/why condesation would forum outside the water tank and then cause damage

Presumably the tank was constantly running but going out the overflow pipe so no escape of water but being filled with mains temp water it was chilled causing the condensation? I'm surprised such a thing would cause major damage in a short period of time but thats my guess.



Most insurance is written on an insured perils basis and therefore to be able to claim you must show the cause of the damage is due to one of those perils materializing (flood, fire, theft etc).  Condensation is not a normal peril insured by Home insurance. If you have paid for accidental damage cover then read the definition... occasionally these can be written in a way that they cover certain secondary events (eg a ceiling collapsing after water getting around broken grouting)

mebu60

Water damage cover is from escape of water. Condensation is not escape of water. Like others I am struggling to understand how condensation can form in a sufficient quantity to cause this much damage.
DullGreyGuy makes a good point about accidental damage cover, if you have that, potentially for secondary consequential damage. 

Ganga

Could it be that water escaped from the filling valve after the plastic ball came off ,most float valves have an  elbow that directs the water down ino the tank but if the elbow fell off/was missing water might have came over the top of the tank.

Alphatauri

Thank you for your replies. I will check my policy again. 

I am not physically able to get into the loft, so I am reliant on the emergency call outs assessment. Their report to the insurance company was condensation, no evidence of leaking pipes or roof. Since the ball valve has been replaced the water quickly stopped seeping through and the ceiling is drying out, obviously the heating being on higher and longer each day helps with this but condensation seems to be the only rational answer.

diystarter7

DullGreyGuy said:

diystarter7 said:

I'm confused how/why condesation would forum outside the water tank and then cause damage

Presumably the tank was constantly running but going out the overflow pipe so no escape of water but being filled with mains temp water it was chilled causing the condensation? I'm surprised such a thing would cause major damage in a short period of time but thats my guess.



Most insurance is written on an insured perils basis and therefore to be able to claim you must show the cause of the damage is due to one of those perils materializing (flood, fire, theft etc).  Condensation is not a normal peril insured by Home insurance. If you have paid for accidental damage cover then read the definition... occasionally these can be written in a way that they cover certain secondary events (eg a ceiling collapsing after water getting around broken grouting)

Thanks, but like you said - the damage op is talking about - I doubt you'd get that is there was a hole in a steam room wall. - hence my confsuion

Thanks

plumb1_2

Yes it can happen 
Toilet cistern in your bathroom is filling with cold water, bathroom radiator on making the room nice and toasty. Have never noticed the cold ceramic showing the water line and condensation on the outside. And you have to wipe it off or your floor gets wet.
Much the same can happen in the loft if the conditions are right, that’s one reason that a byelaw 30 kit should be fitted to help prevent it.
Same with hidden cisterns behind bathroom furniture, some have a insulated jacket.

diystarter7

Alphatauri said:

Thank you for your replies. I will check my policy again. 

I am not physically able to get into the loft, so I am reliant on the emergency call outs assessment. Their report to the insurance company was condensation, no evidence of leaking pipes or roof. Since the ball valve has been replaced the water quickly stopped seeping through and the ceiling is drying out, obviously the heating being on higher and longer each day helps with this but condensation seems to be the only rational answer.

Hi OP

Thanks for the elaborations but I am sounding very silly now, I'm still confused as the damage is so vast.

As I say on all forums, I'm no mechanic, builder, gas safe engineer brin surgeon, cyber expert, PM, president, etc surveyor, insurance expert, pilot, ect, etc but
I have vast experience in life and property as always lived in our home and rent out - never, ever come across anything like this, ever.

TBH, I find it staggering that condensation like that did all that.

NB: Just an idea/guess = Is there a chance the insurance outfit person was busy cut and pasting letters and got them mixed up??

Good luck

Alphatauri

The call out engineer said wow when he saw the ceiling and he seemed really thorough before coming to a conclusion.

As pp have said it’s like a toilet cistern but larger. I am normally at home most days so have had the heating on. So when I went away with the cold snap and the house only heated twice a day I can see the condensation would repeatedly build up as it trickled down the tank.

In my experience if you spill a pint of water on a carpet it actually creates a very large puddle - if I look at the area of wet carpet it’s about 2m sq (6ft x 3ft) the ceiling is bigger but dried up once the last of the water had worked it’s way through. 

Having got over the initial shock and rectified the problem, my real issue is that repairing the damage it’s not covered by my insurance. I do not have the decision in writing, I returned a missed call and the person I spoke to had issues with their system and phoned me back a long while later. I suspect they wanted to double check I was not covered before telling me the bad news.

My plan was to ask for advice on here, as advised I will re-check my policy then email to see if I could challenge the decision and ask for a final decision in writing.