Escape of Water: A residents guide
05/25/2023
The frequency and cost of water damage losses is nothing new and has been a challenge for many years across all areas of property insurance. This unfortunately is especially true within the residential sector.
Escape of water continued to be a significant issue for both residential and commercial buildings in 2022, with a total of £987 million worth of claims made across the year, a 15% increase over 2021. This amounts to an average of around £2.7 million worth of escape of water losses every single day, not accounting for those where damage costs amounted to less than excess (please check the policy excess as damage can fall under this amount), or the additional costs that may have come from loss of rent, business disruption and potentially liability costs for a property owner.
As an issue, escape of water is significant both in terms of regularity of claims and the severity of them - which means that they happen often and cost a lot to repair when they do. The cost of repair is something that has risen in the past few years, largely due to the cost of living crisis which has seen an increase in the cost of labour and parts, but also due to the increased time needed for drying out where modern methods of construction materials have been used.
Why should you act?
Escape of water can occur in various ways, for example a sudden burst pipe or joint can result in water flow of up to 60 litres per minute, damaging everything in its path in a similar disruptive manner to flooding.
A minor leak can remain undiscovered for several months if concealed, resulting in unrepairable damage to a building’s structure, fixtures and fittings. In addition, any such event can have significant consequences that don’t have a monetary value, such as losing sentimental possessions, having to temporarily move out of your property, stress, anxiety and the danger of any incident causing damage to neighbours.
This guide will highlight the common causes of a leak, preventative measures to mitigate damage and help formulating an incident response plan should an incident occur.
