Water Leak – Plumber or Insurance? Part 2

This is an update to the first article we published on plumbers and insurance enquiries. Read that here: MPAQ: Water Leak – Plumber Or Insurance?

Mrs. Jones has called again; it’s been three weeks since you repaired a water leak in her wall. She has water running out through the floor underneath the house.

Same as last time, you don’t need to notify the insurance companies right away.

Again, start with the basics. Ask if it’s hot or cold water and if someone can isolate the water supply with either:

• stop cocks inside;
• turning off the cold-water supply to the hot water unit; or
• shutting off the water supply at the meter.

This can reduce the damage until you can attend to investigate.

You then need to attend to this job as soon as possible. Once you have been given a chance to inspect, locate the leak and identify the cause. Take pictures as the job progresses.

Once the leak has been found and identified, you can report to Mrs. Jones whether the leak is connected to the repair work you carried out or the existing pipework has burst in another section away from your repair work. If it’s your work at fault, make the necessary repairs, apologise for the inconvenience, and move on. Put it down to experience.

Now, if this is a burst pipe in another section, record the incident in writing and photographs. Explain to Mrs. Jones that the pipework has degraded, and the burst pipe is in another section. Submit a quote for repair and wait for approval.

Completing the callout this way can keep the callout amicable and you have been able to defend your actions without involving insurance companies’ assessments and other trades.

MPAQ members with further questions can call the MPAQ technical team on 07 3273 0800.