Water leak detection and Buildings Insurance
Discussion
About 4 years ago we noticed water on the kitchen floor. Not a lot but a check found a very small leak in the cold water copper pipe feeding the sink above. I spotted a VERY small misty spray and slight hiss. I managed to do a temp seal with a tape/ hose clip. There was nothing in contact with the pipe to cause the pinhole. A mystery. Phoned Homeserve. Utter crap. Only 2 plumbers on books covering the whole of S Wales and 2 day wait. Double checked insurance and they had emergency cover and plumber arrived an hour later. My wife had setup the Homeserve cover not realising we had insurance cover. Cancelled immediately with a strongly negative message! Homeserve kept on trying to get us back with letters etc. I let them waste their time. No more letters etc. Direct Line Insurance who had deal with British Gasto to send a plumber. Excellent service.
Homeserve? Waste of space.
Homeserve? Waste of space.
sospan said:
About 4 years ago we noticed water on the kitchen floor. Not a lot but a check found a very small leak in the cold water copper pipe feeding the sink above. I spotted a VERY small misty spray and slight hiss. I managed to do a temp seal with a tape/ hose clip. There was nothing in contact with the pipe to cause the pinhole. A mystery. Phoned Homeserve. Utter crap. Only 2 plumbers on books covering the whole of S Wales and 2 day wait. Double checked insurance and they had emergency cover and plumber arrived an hour later. My wife had setup the Homeserve cover not realising we had insurance cover. Cancelled immediately with a strongly negative message! Homeserve kept on trying to get us back with letters etc. I let them waste their time. No more letters etc. Direct Line Insurance who had deal with British Gasto to send a plumber. Excellent service.
Homeserve? Waste of space.
And to think they now own Checkatrade Homeserve? Waste of space.
Old thread I know, but I found this via Google searching for how we deal with a leak outside our house.
It looks like we have a leak somewhere between the meter on the outside path and our house stop valve, which is about 5 metre run under the garden. With the house stop valve closed we lose about 22 litres in an hour. With the meter valve closed we lose nothing.
I've been onto Thames Water this morning, who were pretty useless, despite what they say in their 'leakage code of practice' where they talk about helping with repairs 'usually free of charge' up to 30metre and 50mm pipe diameter. However, I have to get a plumber out to confirm there is leak outside the house and even then they were pretty vague about having it repaired by them. The only thing they kept saying was that we can get our bill reduced (usage has gone up over 100% since the previous reading last August).
Think we'll have to ring ADI and see what they quote since our house/buildings insurance excess is £500 and since it's only the garden there won't be water damage as such.
Just wondered if anyone else has used ADI since the poster on this thread and any feedback? Either that or other recommendations in the Reading area?
It looks like we have a leak somewhere between the meter on the outside path and our house stop valve, which is about 5 metre run under the garden. With the house stop valve closed we lose about 22 litres in an hour. With the meter valve closed we lose nothing.
I've been onto Thames Water this morning, who were pretty useless, despite what they say in their 'leakage code of practice' where they talk about helping with repairs 'usually free of charge' up to 30metre and 50mm pipe diameter. However, I have to get a plumber out to confirm there is leak outside the house and even then they were pretty vague about having it repaired by them. The only thing they kept saying was that we can get our bill reduced (usage has gone up over 100% since the previous reading last August).
Think we'll have to ring ADI and see what they quote since our house/buildings insurance excess is £500 and since it's only the garden there won't be water damage as such.
Just wondered if anyone else has used ADI since the poster on this thread and any feedback? Either that or other recommendations in the Reading area?
OutInTheShed said:
It's pretty normal for insurance not to cover defects in manufacture or construction, only consequential damage from that.
I would check carefully for any signs of damage due to the floor being wet.
I wouldn't expect that sort of leak to have done damage to foundations? How long has it been going on?
How easy is it to install a new pipe bypassing the leak?
TBH I'm one of those people who takes a high excess on insurance, because I'd rather crack on and fix things than argue about what's covered.
how old is the house by the way? Is it likely to be original plumbing?
This.I would check carefully for any signs of damage due to the floor being wet.
I wouldn't expect that sort of leak to have done damage to foundations? How long has it been going on?
How easy is it to install a new pipe bypassing the leak?
TBH I'm one of those people who takes a high excess on insurance, because I'd rather crack on and fix things than argue about what's covered.
how old is the house by the way? Is it likely to be original plumbing?
I had a leak under my kitchen floor. They paid for the repairs (new tiles etc) but not the leak itself. Fortunately that was just 5 minutes replacing a section of pipe.
OldSkoolRS said:
Old thread I know, but I found this via Google searching for how we deal with a leak outside our house.
It looks like we have a leak somewhere between the meter on the outside path and our house stop valve, which is about 5 metre run under the garden. With the house stop valve closed we lose about 22 litres in an hour. With the meter valve closed we lose nothing.
I've been onto Thames Water this morning, who were pretty useless, despite what they say in their 'leakage code of practice' where they talk about helping with repairs 'usually free of charge' up to 30metre and 50mm pipe diameter. However, I have to get a plumber out to confirm there is leak outside the house and even then they were pretty vague about having it repaired by them. The only thing they kept saying was that we can get our bill reduced (usage has gone up over 100% since the previous reading last August).
Think we'll have to ring ADI and see what they quote since our house/buildings insurance excess is £500 and since it's only the garden there won't be water damage as such.
Just wondered if anyone else has used ADI since the poster on this thread and any feedback? Either that or other recommendations in the Reading area?
Usually your side of the meter is your problem, which is why the meter is at the boundary, so I'd be surprised if they help. The only thing I think they do is refund you for the water you've been paying for that's been leaking away once they confirm that the leak has been fixed.It looks like we have a leak somewhere between the meter on the outside path and our house stop valve, which is about 5 metre run under the garden. With the house stop valve closed we lose about 22 litres in an hour. With the meter valve closed we lose nothing.
I've been onto Thames Water this morning, who were pretty useless, despite what they say in their 'leakage code of practice' where they talk about helping with repairs 'usually free of charge' up to 30metre and 50mm pipe diameter. However, I have to get a plumber out to confirm there is leak outside the house and even then they were pretty vague about having it repaired by them. The only thing they kept saying was that we can get our bill reduced (usage has gone up over 100% since the previous reading last August).
Think we'll have to ring ADI and see what they quote since our house/buildings insurance excess is £500 and since it's only the garden there won't be water damage as such.
Just wondered if anyone else has used ADI since the poster on this thread and any feedback? Either that or other recommendations in the Reading area?
AyBee said:
Usually your side of the meter is your problem, which is why the meter is at the boundary, so I'd be surprised if they help. The only thing I think they do is refund you for the water you've been paying for that's been leaking away once they confirm that the leak has been fixed.
That was my thought, however see the attached section of their 'Leakage code of practice' which seems to say that they will help and usually replace for free:I've been quoted just over £1k by ADI so if there is a possibility of Thames Water doing that work for free, then I'd prefer that option.
A possible reason for the leak is fibre cable work nearby last summer, but would be hard to prove now and it's 'outboard' of the meter, so could be clutching at straws there anyway (though could have been caused by their digging up/vibration).
My wife is trying to get some response from Thames Water on chat, but I'm not holding much hope, so will probably just have to bite the bullet and get ADI out. Not worth claiming off our house insurance due to the excess and some parts of the job not being covered by insurance (according to ADI). Only if it escalates and involves digging under the house, in which case we'd have to involve our insurance company. Not sure if I want to involve them yet though as it doesn't take much for them to increase premiums, which I'm hoping to avoid if we just pay our own way.
My water bored (Severn Trent) and my previous one (Anglian) had a one strike policy.
You were allowed one such incident your side of the meter, but if it happened again in a certain period of time it is your problem.
The Anglian one was £2,200 worth, from a leak under the patio in a pipe put in by a previous resident to feed garden-watering taps half way up the back garden.
The Severn Trent one was a leak between the meter and my house, which took me a year to find - similar cost.
The latter was made more difficult because my water meter is 420 metres from the house.
It took a very dry winter month before I spotted a puddle in a hedgerow 250 metres from my house where there shouldn't have been a puddle.
The farmer who restored my property 60 years ago decided to put in the mains water pipe himself.
Hence it runs across his fields and comes to me via an animal water feeder.
I imagine a few hours toil with his JCB was a damn sight cheaper than Severn Trent's quote for the work.
You were allowed one such incident your side of the meter, but if it happened again in a certain period of time it is your problem.
The Anglian one was £2,200 worth, from a leak under the patio in a pipe put in by a previous resident to feed garden-watering taps half way up the back garden.
The Severn Trent one was a leak between the meter and my house, which took me a year to find - similar cost.
The latter was made more difficult because my water meter is 420 metres from the house.
It took a very dry winter month before I spotted a puddle in a hedgerow 250 metres from my house where there shouldn't have been a puddle.
The farmer who restored my property 60 years ago decided to put in the mains water pipe himself.
Hence it runs across his fields and comes to me via an animal water feeder.
I imagine a few hours toil with his JCB was a damn sight cheaper than Severn Trent's quote for the work.
Tony at www.tokenengineering.co.uk is the guy to speak to for anything to do with water leakage. Top bloke and uses gas injection/sniffers to detect where the leak is taking place - as well as more industrial methods!
OldSkoolRS said:
AyBee said:
Usually your side of the meter is your problem, which is why the meter is at the boundary, so I'd be surprised if they help. The only thing I think they do is refund you for the water you've been paying for that's been leaking away once they confirm that the leak has been fixed.
That was my thought, however see the attached section of their 'Leakage code of practice' which seems to say that they will help and usually replace for free:I've been quoted just over £1k by ADI so if there is a possibility of Thames Water doing that work for free, then I'd prefer that option.
A possible reason for the leak is fibre cable work nearby last summer, but would be hard to prove now and it's 'outboard' of the meter, so could be clutching at straws there anyway (though could have been caused by their digging up/vibration).
My wife is trying to get some response from Thames Water on chat, but I'm not holding much hope, so will probably just have to bite the bullet and get ADI out. Not worth claiming off our house insurance due to the excess and some parts of the job not being covered by insurance (according to ADI). Only if it escalates and involves digging under the house, in which case we'd have to involve our insurance company. Not sure if I want to involve them yet though as it doesn't take much for them to increase premiums, which I'm hoping to avoid if we just pay our own way.
https://www.plumbingsuperstore.co.uk/product/coupl...
When I had to get my 420 metres of black alkathene pipe repaired, I remembered I had stored the phone number of the roaming Severn Trent guy who first came out to see me when I hadn’t managed to find the leak within 6 months.
Old skool fella like myself, so reasonable and helpful. I rang him to find out where to get the right bits and he drove 40 miles, got some bits and tools out of his trendy pickup truck, jumped into the 1 metre deep hole we had dug and did the job for me. I looked pretty straight forward, just cut out the section that is damaged with one of those cutters that revolves around the pipe and fit a short bit and two connectors to replace it.
Stand back a safe distance while someone turns the water back on.
Old skool fella like myself, so reasonable and helpful. I rang him to find out where to get the right bits and he drove 40 miles, got some bits and tools out of his trendy pickup truck, jumped into the 1 metre deep hole we had dug and did the job for me. I looked pretty straight forward, just cut out the section that is damaged with one of those cutters that revolves around the pipe and fit a short bit and two connectors to replace it.
Stand back a safe distance while someone turns the water back on.
Fatboy said:
As it's only a 5 metre run, I'd just dig it up myself - won't be too deep (600-800mm iirc), and if you start where you can see disturbed ground/near where the fibre went you might get lucky... If you have a meter it's likely to be made pipe, so easy to cut and replace a section with the screw in couplers like these:
https://www.plumbingsuperstore.co.uk/product/coupl...
Not going to happen...I have existing back problems, so I'm not going to risk putting it out again. Though you're welcome to come round and do it if it's that easy. https://www.plumbingsuperstore.co.uk/product/coupl...
I'm quite capable of fixing regular plumbing issues, but the digging part makes it a non-starter.However, even if I did do the repair then I wouldn't have the required documentation to prove it's been fixed which means I'd still be liable for the extra £600+ of water we've used since the last meter reading due to the leak. We would also no doubt struggle to get them to put my DD back to where it should be going forward. If Thames Water won't help, then we'll have to get ADI out, just giving them a few days to get back to us after my wife got a more positive response on the chat.
So far I haven't read of anyone getting Thames Water to do such a repair FOC though, all the other examples have been other water companies, so I'm not very optimistic.
Thames do repair between meter and house but this may only be after a water meter is installed, that identifies a leak. We had a massive leak that was amazingly right next to a manhole and draining away so not spotted. Identified after a water meter was fitted and so a free repair and credit for the massive water bill from Thames. I think we’d now be on the hook for another such issue as the thing that made it all free was the water meter being installed. New pipe was installed with a mole so very little mess.
Shinyfings said:
Thames do repair between meter and house but this may only be after a water meter is installed, that identifies a leak. We had a massive leak that was amazingly right next to a manhole and draining away so not spotted. Identified after a water meter was fitted and so a free repair and credit for the massive water bill from Thames. I think we’d now be on the hook for another such issue as the thing that made it all free was the water meter being installed. New pipe was installed with a mole so very little mess.
Thanks, useful to know as we already have a water meter, which was what initially triggered the issue due to the massive increase in our water use. Not holding a lot of hope, but will give them time to come back to us as per chat discussion with my wife. Worst case we call ADI, but I'm not powerfully built enough just to throw £1k away without giving it a try with Thames Water first.OldSkoolRS said:
Shinyfings said:
Thames do repair between meter and house but this may only be after a water meter is installed, that identifies a leak. We had a massive leak that was amazingly right next to a manhole and draining away so not spotted. Identified after a water meter was fitted and so a free repair and credit for the massive water bill from Thames. I think we’d now be on the hook for another such issue as the thing that made it all free was the water meter being installed. New pipe was installed with a mole so very little mess.
Thanks, useful to know as we already have a water meter, which was what initially triggered the issue due to the massive increase in our water use. Not holding a lot of hope, but will give them time to come back to us as per chat discussion with my wife. Worst case we call ADI, but I'm not powerfully built enough just to throw £1k away without giving it a try with Thames Water first.Stands to reason:
We were hardly going to continue with the leak and pretend it had been fixed, were we?
We wanted our credit and re-bill, and no further vastly overstated bills six months later.
QBee said:
FWIW, Severn Trent just needed to know the leak had been fixed. No documentation was required.
Stands to reason:
We were hardly going to continue with the leak and pretend it had been fixed, were we?
We wanted our credit and re-bill, and no further vastly overstated bills six months later.
Seems like Thames are a bit more rigid as they seemed to be insisting on documented proof that the repair has been done, especially if I want the £600 or so of excess water taken off my bill. Different suppliers seem to have different rules; Southern Water have a bit on their main webpage about coming out for 'up to an hour' free of charge in similar circumstances, so I guess it just depends on who you are with.Stands to reason:
We were hardly going to continue with the leak and pretend it had been fixed, were we?
We wanted our credit and re-bill, and no further vastly overstated bills six months later.
I'll update the thread if we manage to get them out FOC or just to close it off if we get ADI or similar out to sort it.
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