Would you expect house insurance to pay out for this?

B0bbyEwing

Not me, thankfully, but someone I know has water coming in to their living room quite bad above the window.

They have a crack around their lintel area. Not in the recessed bit where the window frame will be but on the face of it as you'd stand in the living room looking outside. Water is coming in through this crack.

Wondering if maybe the cavity tray or whatever has failed. Whatever it is I think it's a bit beyond a blob of sealant.

They don't really have a lot of money spare & it wouldn't surprise me if this is going to be a costly repair.

Having never claimed on house insurance myself, would you expect house insurance to be able to cover this kind of repair or not?

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6652379/would-you-expect-house-insurance-to-pay-out-for-this

Assuming you have a standard policy then you would need to show that the damage is the result of one of the insured perils such as fire, flood, subsidence, accidental damage etc. If you can't show how one of these perils caused it then it's not covered.

Sounds like you are saying its just failed over time which isnt an insured peril and is a maintenance issue instead.

FrugaiMacDugal

No, sounds like neglect, allowing it to get so bad.

Have you a photie from outside, maybe not too big a job.

silvercar

I would think insurance won’t cover the repair, but it may cover the damage caused by the crack.

Grumpy_chap

This sounds like it could be a "devil in the detail" scenario.

If the water ingress is the result of inadequate maintenance over an extended period then it is unlikely to be covered by the property insurance.

If the water ingress is the result of a specific identifiable event then it is more likely to be covered by the property insurance.

Because of the potential nuances it might be impractical for an online forum to provide sound comment.

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81856469#Comment_81856469

I think the crack on the inside has been there for a while tbh.

As for exterior cause I'm not sure. It's absolutely bucketed it down with 60mph winds through the night so that hasn't helped.

The house insurance is a non starter too anyway after what I've since found out after making this thread. Couldn't believe my ears.

TELLIT01

Assuming it's a concrete lintel, I wouldn't expect it to fail unless there was an underlying cause such as subsidence.

WIAWSNB

In which case, potentially a claim?

Oooooh, I hope it's subsidence... :-(

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81857697#Comment_81857697

Yes a claim.

And why do you hope that?

WIAWSNB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81857864#Comment_81857864

I was being flippant, in seriousness.

As said by others, it doesn't currently appear to be claimable - it sounds as tho' it's normal deterioration over time; there's nothing to suggest otherwise. Therefore household insurance is unlikely to pay out.

If it was due to storm-damage, however, that would be different - usually claimable. (But very unlikely to have been this.)

If it's due to subsidence, that is usually covered by insurance, albeit with a larger excess. So the worst-case scenario could end up being the best - hence 'I hope' :-)

Slinky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81856745#Comment_81856745

We had cracks in a lintel, which we got replaced. The surveyor said he suspected that in 1960s when the houses were built, the builders made their own boot lintels on site rather than buying them in. The quality of manufacture was suspected. Other lintels in the house had also rotated a bit and cracked the internal plaster. All a long time ago. It's a common problem in our street. We've had the whole house replastered a couple of years ago and not had the cracked areas reopen.