Escape of Water versus Trace and Access
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themadhatter
Posts: 24 Forumite
Hello,
I'm about to start the process of making a claim for a water leak through my insurer Together Mutual insurance, who are underwritten by UIA. I've had it fixed by a plumber but in the process he's had to remove some of the flooring in two rooms, and also knock a hole in the ceiling of the garage. I'm therefore looking to claim for the work the plumber did and to repair the damage to the flooring and ceiling. I've looked in my policy but I can't work out if I should make a Trace and Access claim, or an Escape of Water claim. The excess is 450 for Trace and Access and 750 for Escape of Water. Do you think Trace and Access will cover the repairs to fix the flooring and ceiling? I was a bit confused when the insurance guy was explaining it to me, despite asking him to clarify (I think it's me though, not him, as insurance speak boggles me). I went with Trace and Access but he said I can change it if necessary.
Policy details for each one are described below:
10. Escape of water or oil from any fixed domestic water or heating installation or from any domestic washing machine or dishwasher. We will also pay for damage to any fixed domestic water or heating installation within the home caused by its own internal freezing.
We will not pay for:
• The Escape of Water Excess shown on your schedule for claims for damage caused by an Escape of Water or the Standard Excess shown on your schedule for claims for damage caused by an Escape of Oil
• Any claim occurring in between 1st October and 31st March, where you have not been staying in the home overnight for 14 days or more and you have not either;
i) turned off all mains water and drained the water and heating system, or
ii) set the central heating to maintain the temperature at a constant temperature of not less than 55 degrees Fahrenheit or 12 degrees Celsius at all times
• Loss or damage while the premises are unoccupied or unfurnished for more than 60 days continuously
• Loss or damage caused by subsidence, landslip or heave, whether resulting from the escape of water or otherwise. (This exclusion does not affect the cover given by Insured Event 11)
• Loss or damage to the installation or appliance from which the escape has occurred, unless the installation or
appliance has been damaged by its own internal freezing
• Loss or damage caused by wet or dry rot
• The cost of any work necessary to trace, locate or gain access to a leak, the cost of repairing the leak itself (other than repairing leaks caused by the internal freezing of pipes) or the cost of repairing any damage caused solely by accessing the leak. (This exclusion does not affect the cover available under Insured Event
17 as part of a Premier or a Premier Plus policy
17. Trace and access. We will pay the reasonable cost of removing and replacing any part of the buildings necessary to find and repair the source of any water leak from tanks, pipes, or any other domestic water or heating installation that forms part of the home.
We will not pay for:
• The Standard Excess shown on your schedule (No Standard Excess is applicable under a Premier Plus policy)
• More than the limit of cover shown on your schedule
• The cost of repair to the tank, pipe or domestic water or heating installation itself.
It looks like Trace and Access is the right choice. I'm just confused why the excess is more expensive on Escape of Water as it looks like it does't cover building repairs to access and fix the leak.
Thanks in advance
I'm about to start the process of making a claim for a water leak through my insurer Together Mutual insurance, who are underwritten by UIA. I've had it fixed by a plumber but in the process he's had to remove some of the flooring in two rooms, and also knock a hole in the ceiling of the garage. I'm therefore looking to claim for the work the plumber did and to repair the damage to the flooring and ceiling. I've looked in my policy but I can't work out if I should make a Trace and Access claim, or an Escape of Water claim. The excess is 450 for Trace and Access and 750 for Escape of Water. Do you think Trace and Access will cover the repairs to fix the flooring and ceiling? I was a bit confused when the insurance guy was explaining it to me, despite asking him to clarify (I think it's me though, not him, as insurance speak boggles me). I went with Trace and Access but he said I can change it if necessary.
Policy details for each one are described below:
10. Escape of water or oil from any fixed domestic water or heating installation or from any domestic washing machine or dishwasher. We will also pay for damage to any fixed domestic water or heating installation within the home caused by its own internal freezing.
We will not pay for:
• The Escape of Water Excess shown on your schedule for claims for damage caused by an Escape of Water or the Standard Excess shown on your schedule for claims for damage caused by an Escape of Oil
• Any claim occurring in between 1st October and 31st March, where you have not been staying in the home overnight for 14 days or more and you have not either;
i) turned off all mains water and drained the water and heating system, or
ii) set the central heating to maintain the temperature at a constant temperature of not less than 55 degrees Fahrenheit or 12 degrees Celsius at all times
• Loss or damage while the premises are unoccupied or unfurnished for more than 60 days continuously
• Loss or damage caused by subsidence, landslip or heave, whether resulting from the escape of water or otherwise. (This exclusion does not affect the cover given by Insured Event 11)
• Loss or damage to the installation or appliance from which the escape has occurred, unless the installation or
appliance has been damaged by its own internal freezing
• Loss or damage caused by wet or dry rot
• The cost of any work necessary to trace, locate or gain access to a leak, the cost of repairing the leak itself (other than repairing leaks caused by the internal freezing of pipes) or the cost of repairing any damage caused solely by accessing the leak. (This exclusion does not affect the cover available under Insured Event
17 as part of a Premier or a Premier Plus policy
17. Trace and access. We will pay the reasonable cost of removing and replacing any part of the buildings necessary to find and repair the source of any water leak from tanks, pipes, or any other domestic water or heating installation that forms part of the home.
We will not pay for:
• The Standard Excess shown on your schedule (No Standard Excess is applicable under a Premier Plus policy)
• More than the limit of cover shown on your schedule
• The cost of repair to the tank, pipe or domestic water or heating installation itself.
It looks like Trace and Access is the right choice. I'm just confused why the excess is more expensive on Escape of Water as it looks like it does't cover building repairs to access and fix the leak.
Thanks in advance
0
Comments
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Escape of Water covers damage caused by water escaping, which can be very considerable.
Generally, you make a claim for damage under an insurance policy and the company decides based on the event which peril to cover it under.
It certainly sounds as though you have a trace and access claim rather than an escape of water claim.0 -
Thanks for taking the time to reply Zorillo. I'll stick with trace and access in that case as your reasoning sounds solid. Thanks again!0
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Its a little of both - The damage / plumbing repair would be under the escape of water peril on the policy, and only the trace and access of the leak (damage to ceiling etc to get to the leak) would be under the Trace and access limit - Its important that they don't put the whole claim as trace and access due to the lower limit of cover there.0
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Thanks for the follow-up, Smiley Satan; it's much appreciated. At least I'm more prepared now when I deal with the insurance company.Satansallsmiles wrote: »Its a little of both - The damage / plumbing repair would be under the escape of water peril on the policy, and only the trace and access of the leak (damage to ceiling etc to get to the leak) would be under the Trace and access limit - Its important that they don't put the whole claim as trace and access due to the lower limit of cover there.0 -
The 2 items are being confused Track and Trace will fix the leak and make good any damage to find the leak up to the cover amount.
Escape of water is to cover the cost of the loss of metered water if you are on a water meter. Although I must say your excesses are very high.0 -
The 2 items are being confused Track and Trace will fix the leak and make good any damage to find the leak up to the cover amount.
Escape of water is to cover the cost of the loss of metered water if you are on a water meter. Although I must say your excesses are very high.
No it's not.0 -
So I went back to the insurer with a more informed perspective (thanks to the above help!). So just to tie this up, the Track and Trace will pay for the work to find and fix the leak, and any damage caused by the repair work (this will include fixing the flooring to get to the leak and fix it). Escape of water will cover any damage that the leak has caused. In my situation, it will pay to fix the damage to the garage ceiling. Saying that, I'm going to try to persuade the insurer that the plumber damaged the garage ceiling to see if he could find and fix the leak from below, since the water was only dripping through the ceiling. It certainly didn't cause the huge hole in it that the plumber created using his trusty hammer. I might be lucky with that one though.
As for the comment on my excess... yes, too flippin' high. That's because of my stupid voluntary excess to bring the premium down, on the hope that I wouldn't have to claim. Never mind.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone in the same situation. Thanks again for all the comments above 0
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