Home Insurance - Drains
Never ever made a claim on Home Insurance till now.
Our drain has been blocked a few times. I myself have shoved a rod up to unblock it in the past.
As I have emergency insurance I called them out twice in the last 2 months to unblock the toilet. The same guy has come out twice, he now claims that the pipe could have broke or subsided.
I rang Insurer to make a claim. When asked by them when did this start I said January (first time the emergency callout guy came) I forgot to mention that I have tried unblocking it a couple of times in the past, when one of them stupid toilet freshener things got flushed and other things.
Now they are sending a specialist out to stick a camera down to see what the problem is. If its wear or tear or faulty workmanship they wont cover it.
Now Im worried that I could have caused the damage when Ive rodded it myself and because I never told them this I wont be covered.
Any advice? As I said, I have never ever made a claim before and I got a bit flustered on the phone with the lady I spoke to.
Our drain has been blocked a few times. I myself have shoved a rod up to unblock it in the past.
As I have emergency insurance I called them out twice in the last 2 months to unblock the toilet. The same guy has come out twice, he now claims that the pipe could have broke or subsided.
I rang Insurer to make a claim. When asked by them when did this start I said January (first time the emergency callout guy came) I forgot to mention that I have tried unblocking it a couple of times in the past, when one of them stupid toilet freshener things got flushed and other things.
Now they are sending a specialist out to stick a camera down to see what the problem is. If its wear or tear or faulty workmanship they wont cover it.
Now Im worried that I could have caused the damage when Ive rodded it myself and because I never told them this I wont be covered.
Any advice? As I said, I have never ever made a claim before and I got a bit flustered on the phone with the lady I spoke to.
0
Comments
It may have some tree roots growing into it that are causing stuff to get trapped.
Keep quiet about the rodding that you have done, it won't be apparent to the guy checking with the camera.
However, if the problem is with a part of the sewer that's shared with your neighbour(s) and yourself then the water company are responsible for sorting it out. This represents a significant change in the law.
As I say, I'm speaking about what Anglian told me but I've got a feeling this is nationwide.
Certainly worth asking about, I would have thought.
Neighbour's drain goes to back of house, across under both our rear conservatories and my kitchen extension to my main drain (with manhold cover beside kitchen).
There it turns back down the side of my house to road at front of house (100' away).
Two further access points on the way.
My neighbour has had problems with his toilet backing up for over a year (usually after prolonged rain).
SW Water have been out twice (under his contract/insurance) and not fixed problem
Rodding from his access point, furthest from my house.
Finally they got a camera team in and decided my part of the drain had collapsed and concrete from my kitchen floor was the problem (New rules do mean it's mine/my insurers to bear cost)
Bit of a shock. It's tiled and would be an awful job.
But camera man, couldn't measure distance to blockage properly or add up widths of houses, bricks and cavities properly.
He was messing around with tape meassure for ages with me and neighbour looking on in the rear of my house. His electrical detector couldn't locate the camera head. Or rather located it in lots of places.
He variously placed the blockage at two points in the conservatory or under extension wall or under my kitchen units or under the floor by the back door.
I was not impressed and kept suggesting he bring the camera round to my access point and measure the distance from a much shorter run.
Eventually he did, but it was too late in the day to do any more. At least he accurately found where he would have to dig up my kitchen floor.
So I had a fretful night.
Next day, bright and early they re-measured and camera down again, from my side.
They then decided they would just give it a quick high-pressure water blast and Lo! it was gone.
Concrete my arse. It was just loo paper. They checked further with the camera and my drains are in good condition thankfully.
Panic over.
Good luck with yours.
Your own water utility company is now responsible for unblocking sewers/drains at THEIR cost; however there are certain criteria depending on the type of property and how the sewer/drainage pipes are laid-out with respect to boundaries and neighbours property etc.
This explains it.
Who is responsible.
Ring your water utility company in the first instance. They are legally bound to sort out the problem or they will advise you of your options if they are not liable.
In my case for instant the main sewer runs down the side of my house on my property for the full width of the property and my toilet is connected to that sewer by about 4 foot of pipe work. Before the changes to the rules on sewers if the main sewer running across my property had broke, even though it carries waste from properties up the road I would have had to bear the full cost of its repair should it have collapse however now with the new rules I only have to look after the 4 foot of pipe work from my house to main sewer.
I would say from what I can gather from the OP’s problem is that is his or his landlords problem but can’t be sure without knowing more about the layout of the sewers there.