Been Offered a Leakbot by Insurer

Chloe_G

Not sure if this is the most suitable board but - our insurer has just offered us a free Leakbot which would detect leaks and we would then need to contact a Leakbot plumber who would trace and repair the fault for free (within limits). The insurer would know if the Leakbot detects a leak and I would have to call an engineer within 28 days, I think.

Has anyone got experience of this? Whilst it sounds a good idea, I live in a old house with very old pipes and I can imagine that it would constantly be detecting leaks and I would need to constantly be contacting an engineer otherwise I would be contravening the insurance rules.

Grumpy_chap

If you think there are constant leaks, where is the escaping water going and what damage is that escaping water doing?

Are you on a water meter? Does it go to zero consumption overnight? If so, no current leaks.

flaneurs_lobster

Here's a video of an attractive young lady welcoming the hunky Leakbot plumber into her home.

https://leakbot.io/

Can see the value of any early-warning system to both the homeowner and the insurer. Would need to see the details in the agreement about costs, call-out limits and so on to see if it might be of benefit.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6685459/been-offered-a-leakbot-by-insurer

I live in a old house with very old pipes

First thing to check is whether your incoming mains pipe is suitable to attach the device to - older properties could have imperial-size pipes or non-standard materials like steel or lead.

Also, be aware it only works on the mains-fed pipework. So won't necessarily detect leaks on other pipework if you have a system using a cold water storage tank, nor will it detect leaks on the central heating pipework.

I'm slightly sceptical about the idea overall. In particular it would be interesting to see if it could accurately tell the difference between a leak and a slow drip from a 'b-a-l-l-c-o-c-k' in a toilet cistern or cold water storage tank. Although these could also be considered 'leaks', they aren't the sort of thing where a 24/7 callout is likely to be necessary… and it could be frustrating if the device did detect a dripping float valve at 3am and call out the cavalry.

The other point to note is the device is constantly monitoring your water usage - which is an indication of whether the house is occupied or not - and therefore you might want to consider how secure the system is and what any collected data might be used for.

I also suspect 'free' will end up being a subscription service, or an add-on to the insurance policy. That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but only if the premium is adjusted downward to reflect the (suggested) reduced risk of leak damage.

QrizB

My water company gave me a Leakbot. I thought it would be useful to let me know when my kids had forgotten to turn the bathroom tap off properly (they were teens at the time, so no excuses).

It worked, but ...

The notifications didn't turn up for about six hours or so. Usually by then I'd already turned the tap off.

And when you tell Leakbot the the cause was "a dripping tap" it then nags you via app notifications & text messages to get it fixed.

If you keep having "leaks" the notifications get more frequent and more doomy. Here's an example:

"LeakBot continues to detect a leak. To reduce the risk of water damage, open your LeakBot app and follow the instructions."

Eventually I moved it so it's only monitoring my downstairs loo. That shut it up.

Then after a year or so the AA batteries in the Leakbot went flat. OK, I thought, thats the end of that

Oh no. Leakbot started sending me notifications that the device as no longer connected to my WiFi. And then after a month or so I started getting calls from an unknown number that turned out to be Leakbot customer service, wanting to help me with my Leakbot.

So I replaced the batteries, left the Leakbot happily monitoring my downstairs loo and am trying to forget about it until the batteries next go flat.

You've all seen the Red Dwarf "Talkie Toaster" episode? We're in that territory.

flaneurs_lobster

The notifications didn't turn up for about six hours or so. Usually by then I'd already turned the tap off.

Six hours?

With a proper leak your sofa could be bobbing about at the top of the stairs in that time!

Is the idea with these devices that they detect small leaks that you can't necessarily see before they come through the wall or ceiling?

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82157153#Comment_82157153

Is the idea with these devices that they detect small leaks that you can't necessarily see before they come through the wall or ceiling?

More or less.

They work on the idea that when you use water is is drawn from the incoming mains supply which is (likely) colder than the ambient temperature in the property. When you stop using water the contents of the pipe start warming up and with zero flow would eventually reach the ambient temperature. By measuring both the ambient temperature and the pipe temperature the device can detect if the pipe isn't warming up as expected, which might indicate a leak (i.e. a non-zero flow).

So if there is a gushing leak the device won't necessarily be able to identify that as differing from normal usage.