A wise man once said that oxygen is something you never really think about until something goes wrong, the same could be said of drains… all very hum drum, boring perhaps, until something happens. The other very important thing is context. Anyway, here’s the story.
A Victoria semi- detached villa that is used as for a business. Recently a strong foul smell started coming from the drains. A local builder has investigated and said the drain is cracked and leaking. It is also partially blocked as the sections of drain are now slightly misaligned.
Is that covered by the buildings insurance?
Initial thoughts are probably not, on those facts, this is wear and tear and specifically excluded. Although things are often not what they seem.
At this early stage it is important to establish the cause. It’s not impossible for a drain which will be over 100 years old to simple fail, but it is equally likely that there will be a particular cause.
The extent to which there is a dark act to presenting claims, it is always advisable to present insurers with a cause. Once an initial view is formed about policy cover, it is difficult to alter that view. Time invested in tracking down a course is never wasted.
The above example is a new claim just reported. We visited this week and the next door neighbour is not having problems and other parts of the drainage system is fine, so we think there is something else going on. The client is asking the builder to carry out a camera survey and we will let you know what happens.
In the meantime, we have notified insurers as a precaution (so we do not breach reporting conditions) and said an update will follow once more is known. So claims work is like anything else, there is only one chance to make a first impression and that needs to avoid speculation as far as possible…