Flooding/leak caused by heavy rain

[Coffeecocoabeans]

A few days ago I noticed it was wet under the sofa, I thought it was the kids water bottle as there was one there so cleaned it up and went about my day.

last night I noticed more water, followed the trail and it was all behind the sofa, underneath the back part of the sofa, leading up to the patio doors.
when I pulled the sofa out I saw that the floor had turned black from being damp! It also soaked the tv antenna cables.
I assume it’s coming from the bottom corner of the patio doors. It looks a bit gappy to me.
it made a puddle from the back patio doors all the way to the living room entrance door. I can’t believe I didn’t notice this sooner.

should I go through home insurance or call a tradesman myself? Also, if I were to call someone what type of tradesman? Builder?
should I be very worried about the problem?

Insurance company first. If they meet the claim they will probably insist on you using a tradesman/woman from their approved list.

Edited to add: I wouldn't be too worried. It's a pain but from what you say it sounds a minor leak (altho' startling to look at) and easily fixable.

We got flooded a year ago and we rang our insurance company who sent out their own tradesmen to assess and come up with a plan.

We had to have an industrial size dehumidifier and a fan to dry out the flooring and skirting boards for about 4-6 weeks first before any further repair works could be done. I’d go via insurance first as your insurance company may not recognise anyone that you find.

If you have an external TV aerial or satellite dish, water may have tracked down the cables.

Insurance often won't cover an ongoing issue that wasn't dealt with, whereas it will cover a one-off escape of water if you have accidental damage cover.

Thanks for your advice. We’ve got a builder coming today to assess and quote. If it’s a small fix we will cover it ourselves.

I have checked the policy and it covers finding and accessing a leak. I don’t think it has run down the cables from the roof/walls, they are only wet as they were on the floor where the leak is. I believe the water is coming in from the bottom corner of the patio doors rather than down the roof/walls into the house iyswim.

fingers xd it’s a minor leak.