Would insurance provider help with this? Water leak behind walls in bathroom..

[Mouldyuck]

DH and I bought our (1960s) home 2.5 years ago. When purchasing our Fact Find came back great. No issues with the house flagged up at all.

We're currently having our bathroom fitted (the walls were tiled from floor to ceiling). When the fitter started to remove the tiles he realised we had some issues.

The walls have blown throughout the bathroom due to a faulty fitted shower.
If you even touch the wall (where the tiles once were) it just crumbles away in large clumps.
The water damage has gone deep into the floor underneath the bath.
There's now damp and black mould throughout.
It's spread underneath the window seals and everything needs replacing on a much larger scale.

We had no idea how bad it was and wouldn't have known if we hadn't wanted a newer model bathroom. The damage was completely hidden behind the tiles, fittings and floorings. Even the fitter was shocked, he said it looks like years and years of damage.

Should we speak with our home insurance provider about this? Or is it best to just pay for it ourselves?

I've never claimed before so wasn't entirely sure on how it works 😐

I'll pop a picture of what's included because I can't work this out.

My understanding from when we had a leak a few years back is that you have to pay for the leak search and repair, but any damage caused by the leak the insurance company will pay for.

We weren't sure either, but we called our insurance company and they sent someone out to assess the damage etc and it went from there.

Depends- if the leak is as a result of faulty workmanship there Is seldom cover for this under your buildings insurance- possibly some element of cover could be consider under accidental damage but unlikely

Thanks so much.

It's hard because the bathroom is pretty old. I'd say it's been like that for a good 15/20 years. No way of knowing when it exactly happened as we haven't been here that long.

Just a shame nothing flagged when we bought it, otherwise we would have fixed it sooner.

I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what they say. We're happy to pay the cost either way as it needs doing. I guess you don't know until you ask!

As the leak is historic, it would have occurred prior to the inception of your policy, and wouldn't be covered. It would be classed as a gradually operating cause and not as the result of a one off, specific insured event.

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for your honesty, it's very helpful.

Just one of those frustrating things!

It's wear and tear so no not covered I would say . Insurance claims have to be a specific event not a gradual one . What a pain for you 😩

This 💯 we had what we thought was a small leak. Hubby rang a plumber, I rang the insurance company. It turned out that my small leak was in the hot water pipes in the floors. It affected 5 rooms and cost my insurance company....wait for it......50k

Bloody hell really terrifying the amount of damage!!

Ring your insurance company and ask. Don’t make assumptions based on other people’s experiences or readings of your policy. You have nothing to lose.

I'm just nervous to call them about it. It sounds silly, but even if they can't help me will it push my monthly payments up due to it?

Sorry, that's probably a really silly question. Just a bit lost with it

£50K!! Ouch!

We will find out today how bad the damage extends to...

No it won’t push your premiums up. Even if they don’t pay they will honestly be helpful and tell you what’s covered and whether it will be worth making a claim.

Our premiums didn't change, but I think we were obliged to stay with them for a year or 2 after claiming (which to be fair we were happy to).

Just put in a claim. They’ll either accept or reject it.