Burst pipe home insurance claim help
Read about what you should do in the event of a claim for burst pipe damage to your property. We also provide a few tips on how to avoid this from happening in the first place.
Hints on tackling a burst pipe
- Act immediately – In the event of a burst pipe, the sooner you can stop the water the more you can reduce the risk of further damage.
- Turn off the mains water stop tap (turn it fully clockwise) which you can normally find under your kitchen sink or where the mains water pipe comes into your home. Also turn off the stopcock in your cold water tank – usually found in the attic. If you don’t know where your stop tap and stopcock are, check now – it’s better to find out now while there’s no water spraying at you!
- Drain the cold water system and reduce the water pressure by turning on all the cold taps in your home and flushing the toilet a few times.
- Switch off your central heating and heaters and drain the hot water system by turning on all hot taps.
- Take care – some ceilings may be dangerous if they have been soaked with water, so be careful when you enter a room.
- If a ceiling is bulging because of the weight of water above it, punch a hole to let the water escape, but again be careful in case the ceiling collapses. If you aren’t sure how safe the ceiling is, don’t take risks.
- Use buckets to catch drips and towels to soak up the water –towels are also useful to wrap round the burst pipe.
- If water is pouring out of light fittings DON’T touch the light switch or other electrics.
- If it’s safe to do so, turn off the mains power at the fuse box, but don’t touch it if it’s wet.
- Call out a plumber to fix the damaged pipe. Our emergency helpline can help you with details of local plumbers.
- Call us on 0845 640 5630 to report the claim. Telephone lines are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We will give you some useful information and help you to prevent further damage.
Pipe is frozen but not burst
- Remove items like furniture and cover carpet (where practical) near where the frozen pipe is. This should help minimise loss if it does eventually burst.
- Thaw out the pipe by opening the tap nearest to the part of the pipe that you think is frozen – this lets the water flow more easily once it’s melted.
- Thaw the ice in the pipe with a hot water bottle, cloth soaked in hot water or hairdryer (but keep clear of any water), starting at the end with the tap and working back toward the cold water tank. Don’t use a heat gun or blow torch. Place a portable heater in the room, but not too close to any water.
Preventing the pipe from freezing
- Insulate your loft, sides of your water tanks and all pipes with good quality lagging. Visit a local DIY store to get the right materials for the job.
- Open your loft hatch on cold days so that warmer air can circulate from the floors below.
- If you're going to be away in the winter, ask someone to check your home regularly to watch out for frozen or burst pipes. If you’re going away for a while, you should consider draining down the system. Note that certain exclusions apply to your home insurance if your home is unoccupied for a certain amount of time – check your policy for full details.
- Fit new washers to dripping taps so that they don’t freeze and block the pipe. If you can’t replace the washer immediately, put a plug in the sink to catch the drips in the sink.
- Keep your heating on at low temperatures during very cold spells, and take advantage of frost protection thermostats on heaters.
Minimising water damage after a leak
- Remove as much excess water as possible by using an aqua vac or towels. Do not use household vacuum to suck up water. If water is deep call fire brigade to pump it out.
- Remove portable furniture from the affected area. Saucers, tin foil, polystyrene blocks can be placed under wooden legs of furniture to prevent water being absorbed.
- Remove oriental or other coloured rugs from fitted carpets as these may run.
- Open windows and doors to ventilate property.
- If floor under carpets is polished wood or parquet – carpets should be lifted. Beware of gripper rods when removing carpets, especially where young children are present, as they are very sharp.
What to expect from LV= in event of a burst pipe claim:
We'll do everything we can to help you as quickly as is practically possible, should you or your home suffer the affects of a burst pipe.
Assessing the damage
If your home is badly damaged by the water from the burst pipe, we're likely to commission a loss adjuster to contact you to assess the damage in detail, and in extremer cases arrange alternative accommodation (our buildings and contents policies provide up to £25,000 of cover) and plan the restoration process. In normal conditions, your loss adjuster will get in contact within 24 hours of you contacting us, however, after a major drop in temperatures, this may take longer due to the volume of claims. Nevertheless, you should hear from your loss adjuster within two days of contacting us.
Once the loss adjuster has completed their initial assessment, they should be able to provide you with an approximate timetable outlining what needs to be done to restore your home, who will do it and how long it will take.
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