Water mains

[diynutta]

Hi,

We currently have a shared lead water mains, which is about 120 years old. It's leaking and needs replacing. I called insurers up & they will cover us. BUT we have to pay the first £250, now I've looked online and seen the cost varies massively. Would it be worth claiming on insurance? The pipe would be brought in from the mains about 8 meters from house. Inside I have wooden floors until it reaches the kitchen. Will they connect to original stopcock? Thanks

 

[Agile]

Why does it need replacing?

Any sensible insurer would just repair it as its far cheaper.

Tony

 

[JohnD]

You are lucky if you have insurance that will contribute to the cost. I had something similar, there was a little plumbing work, but most of the effort was digging a trench in front of the house, lifting floorboards, and drilling through the house footings. Take the opportunity to lay a larger new plastic pipe, 25mm or better 32mm. The extra cost of pipe is trifling, and the effort is the same, though the large stopcock costs more. The bigger pipe will give you amazingly better flow, so you can get better performance from a combi boiler, or much better from an unvented cylinder, even if this is not needed yet. It needs to run all the way from the main under the pavement to the stopcock in your kitchen. The new pipe need not follow the same route as the old one. If you have a water meter, it will include a stopcock. The water co will charge to do the connection. When I did mine, I had the option of using a plumbing firm from their approved list, or doing it myself and they inspect it before filling in (they looked at the new pipe to see it was deep enough). I couldn't locate the leak, it may have been under the raft.

If your insurers are paying, contact the water co to see if they have approved contractors. Also ask if they have a lead pipe replacement scheme, or a "leaking pipe" subsidy. Ask them to take a sample of your drinking water for lead content (do that straight away, it must be done before you start work).

 

[diynutta]

Thanks for replying guys, the reason there not repairing is because they think its too costly to dig up ours & next doors kitchen and fit it all again. Insurers

 

[dilalio]

Thanks for replying guys, the reason there not repairing is because they think its too costly to dig up ours & next doors kitchen and fit it all again. Insurers

Confused dot com?!
Are they not repairing it AT ALL, or are they REPLACING it completely?
For the £250 "excess charge" what exactly are they currently offering?

Don't be downbeat about it, my dad recently battled with his insurers (with my professional advice) regarding a leaking water main and eventually got paid out in full for all the work needed, having been initially offered a pittance by them!
Unfortunately, these days, you have to keep at them, relentlessly, with the right correspondence, as their usual approach is to fob you off with references to hidden policy small print, in an attempt to avoid paying out... Do not accept 'no' for an answer, but be prepared for a drawn out process!