Paying for repairs to water pipes

Kirstie_Newson · 12 October 2004 at 5:30PM

My first post! I hope it is in the right forum.

I received a letter today from Thames Water asking me to pay £16 a year to cover myself against the cost of repairs to the part of the water pipe that I am responsible for. (Apparently "from the boundary of the public highway to where it goes under my outside wall"). Their reasoning was

1) Sometimes they will make a 'one off repair' without charge, but they can't guarantee this, and if, for instance my water pipe needs repairing more than once they may ask me to cover the cost
2) The cover they provide 'aims' to provide an engineer within 2 hours of my call.

If I pay this £16 am I making a wise investment to avoid wasting thousands of pounds on burst pipes, or am I just being scared into paying my water company for something that is unlikely to ever happen (like extended warranties). This is the first time I have heard of this kind of cover, and I would probably have assumed that my household insurance covers me for anything that I am responsible for as a householder.

I would be very grateful for your input.

Thanks!

DBP

gatita · 12 October 2004 at 6:34PM

It looks as though you have a good deal! I was contacted by South West Water who offered me an insurance for "Drainage cover" £60 for one year! I am thinking of taking this up, but after reading your post feel as though I am getting ripped off by S. W. Water (SO WHATS NEW THERE ::) we have the highest water and sewerage bills in the country >:
I would appreciate any comments as to whether the above deal is advisable or nt.

vansboy · 12 October 2004 at 8:19PM

This type of insurance was mentioned our consumer prog (10-1 weekdays 95.5 fm Stephen Rhodes presenter) BBC 3 counties radio.

The guy from local water co, was politely evasive, when asked how often a claim may occur - seems VERY unlikely!

& listeners were of the opinion, that most house insureres cover the repairs, anyway!!

Worth checking your current policy - guess the get out, would be 'wear n tear' clause.

Keep your money - I'm not keen on this added protection!

VB

Nitewalker · 18 October 2004 at 12:53AM

PLatypus,

I received exactly the same letter on Friday as yourself. The funny thing about it is i work for ThamesWater so know all the ins and outs etc. In my case im not going to bother with the cover plan as my house is only 1yr old so the pipework is mdpe and not copper/lead like in the majority of older properties. Also any problems are also covered by the developer who we purchased the property from for the first 5 years.

Id suggest before you sign up you consider the following:

When did you have your water pipework installed and what material is it? remember that with winter approaching old pipework is more likely to fracture caused by ground movement than new mdpe pipework

Would it really cost you all that money to dig a trench yourself in your private land and lay a bit of mdpe pipe and a few check valves etc? ( I can assure u it wont!)

Anyway hope this info helps a little. If you have any further queries just send me an email and ill assist.

Paying for repairs to water pipes

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