Water damage is one of the most well-known reasons for home insurance claims. As indicated by theaa.ie home insurance survey, water penetration claims are the second most significant insurance claim, following wind and hail damage.
Water leaks are a relatively common issue. Fortunately, most water leaks are minor, but more serious issues can be expensive to put right. Before you spend any money on water leak repairs, you should be clear about what expenditure is covered by your home insurance policy and what isn’t.
Should you always make an insurance claim?
Whether you should make a claim or not will depend on the nature and the extent of the damage to your home. If the damage is only minor and you’re able to fix it on your own, then it usually doesn’t make sense to file an insurance claim.
How to make a claim
If you’re going to make a claim, you should do so as soon as possible after you identify the issue. If you wait too long then it can ultimately jeopardise your claim, as insurers often reject claims that are filed too long after an incident.
The first part of the process is to document the incident. You should begin by taking photographs of any visible damage. Keep a log of every professional that you contact and make sure that you get documentation from them for any work that they carry out.
Trace and access cover
In some cases, especially where a leak is particularly severe, the presence of water will give it away. However, many leaks occur behind walls or under floors, or in other places where they aren’t immediately obvious. If you don’t know where your leak originates then you can’t begin to fix the issue. There are businesses like Pinpoint Trace and Access that offer essential trace and access services. They’ll locate the source of your water leak and provide you with the necessary paperwork for which your insurance company will ask.
Check the details of your insurance policy to see if it includes trace and access cover. If it does, then you can reclaim the costs of hiring a professional trace and access service like Pinpoint.
Avoid common mistakes
Other than waiting too long to file a claim, which will count against you with your insurer, there are a couple of other things that you should avoid doing in the interest of your claim. First and foremost, if your insurer determines that you could have prevented the leak from occurring to begin with, they’re likely to deny your claim. It’s therefore important that you look after your home’s plumbing.
You should also be aware that you cannot claim for general wear and tear. In order for your insurance to cover the costs of a water leak, there must be a single identifiable cause for it to have occurred.
If you only suffer a minor water leak and you’re able to easily solve the issue yourself, filing an insurance claim is probably overkill. However, before you start spending money on professional services to help you fix your leak, make sure that you check the terms & conditions of your insurance policy to see what is and isn’t covered.
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