Most people find out which half of their home insurance they actually hold on the day water comes through the ceiling. The answer matters more than it seems, because in a flat or a rented home the buildings half is often not yours, and the contents half is the only claim you can make yourself.
What contents insurance pays for after a leak
Escape of water is a standard insured event on both halves of a home policy. esure's policy booklet, for example, covers loss or damage to buildings or contents from water escaping from tanks, pipes, fixed equipment, domestic appliances or fixed heating systems, and from water freezing in them. On the contents side, that means the things you would take with you if you moved:
- Sofas, beds, rugs and other furniture
- Televisions, laptops and other electricals
- Clothing, books, stored boxes and whatever was in the cupboard under the sink
- On many policies, alternative accommodation if the home is not fit to live in while it dries out
Fitted carpets and flooring are the grey area. Some insurers treat them as contents, others as part of the building, and flooring a leaseholder or tenant installed themselves is often theirs to claim. The booklet definition of "contents" and "buildings" settles it, not the schedule summary.
What contents insurance does not pay for
| Damaged or needed after a leak | Usually claimed under |
|---|
| Furniture, electricals, clothing, belongings | Contents |
| Carpets and flooring | Varies by insurer; check the definitions |
| Ceilings, plaster, walls, floors, fitted kitchen and bathroom | Buildings |
| Finding a hidden leak and opening up to reach it | Buildings, under trace and access where included |
| The pipe, valve or hose that failed | Often excluded, or capped, on either policy |
| Damage from a leak you knew about and left | Often refused on either policy |
Two rows in that table catch people out.
Trace and access is a buildings benefit
If the leak is hidden, someone has to find it before anything can be repaired, and that work is paid under trace and access. It is the building being opened, so the cover sits with buildings insurance. Admiral states that its trace and access cover is not included on contents-only policies. If you hold contents cover alone, the cost of finding the leak belongs to whoever insures the structure. There is more on how that benefit works in what trace and access cover is.
The failed part is rarely covered
Policies separate the damage the water did from the thing that let it out. esure excludes damage to the tank, pipe or installation itself where it is caused by normal wear and tear. Homeprotect instead publishes a £250 per claim limit for repairing the cause of the leak. The same logic applies to a washing machine whose hose split: contents may pay for the ruined rug, but not for a new hose.
Sudden leaks are covered, slow ones are argued over
Contents claims fall under the same gradual damage wording as buildings claims. Most policies exclude damage from a gradually operating cause, which in practice means a slow leak that ran for weeks or months.
That exclusion is not automatic. The Financial Ombudsman Service's published approach is that it is likely to tell an insurer to pay where the damage came from an insured event such as escape of water, you could not reasonably have known it was happening, and you acted as soon as you could reasonably have known. A leak hidden under a floor can succeed. A drip you reported to nobody for a month usually will not. Our guide to whether a slow leak is covered goes through the test in detail.
Which policy pays: owners, leaseholders and tenants
You own a house
You probably hold both halves, perhaps with different insurers. A serious leak usually produces two claims: buildings for the fabric and the search, contents for your belongings. Each has its own excess, and there is often a separate, higher escape of water excess on top. Add them up before you report a small leak, because on minor damage the excesses can be most of the claim. The detail is in excess and betterment on a water leak.
You own a leasehold flat
The structure of the block is normally insured on a block policy the freeholder arranges, and you contribute to it through the service charge. The Leasehold Advisory Service describes that buildings cover as paying for repairs and redecoration to the fabric, such as replastering a ceiling or repairing kitchen cabinets, and says you will need to ask your landlord to make the claim. Your own contents policy covers your belongings. Tell the managing agent and your own insurer in writing, on the same day. See leak from the flat above: who pays for the whole sequence.
You rent
Your contents policy is the only one in your name, and it covers your possessions. The building, its fixtures and its plumbing are the landlord's. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 puts the installations for the supply of water and for sanitation on the landlord to keep in repair, and the duty on a defect inside the home generally starts once the landlord has been told. So report the leak in writing, with the date, before anything else. Landlord water leak responsibility covers what the landlord has to do and when.
The tenant's own appliances are a different matter. If your washing machine floods the flat below, whether the damage downstairs is recovered from you usually depends on whether your contents policy includes third party liability cover. It is worth checking that line before you need it.
How to make a contents claim after a leak
- Stop the water. Stopcock first, then drain the system by opening the lowest taps. If electrics are anywhere near the water, turn them off at the consumer unit.
- Photograph before you move anything. Wide shots of each room, then each damaged item on its own. Contents and buildings are settled separately, and one wide photo will not carry the contents half. What to record before anyone attends has the checklist.
- Keep damaged items until the insurer says you can dispose of them, and write down what each one was and roughly when you bought it.
- Report it promptly and take a claim reference. Delay gives an insurer an argument that the damage got worse than it needed to.
- Get the source found and named. A contents claim still needs a cause. "Water came through the ceiling" is a symptom; "the waste joint under the shower tray in the flat above failed" is a cause an insurer can pay on.
Where we come in
We do not handle your claim or tell you what your policy covers. What we do is the part every claim, contents or buildings, depends on: we find the leak, repair it, and put the ceiling, wall or floor we opened back the way it was, then give you a written report that states the method, the location and the failure. Our rate is £150 per hour, agreed before we attend, with no call-out fee, and if we do not find the leak you do not pay for the time we spent looking. The making-good side of the job is set out on leak damage repair and reinstatement, and our full rates are on the pricing page. If water is coming through now, call us and we will talk you through isolating it while we are on the way.
Cover varies between insurers and between tiers of the same insurer. Your schedule and policy booklet are the only authority on what you hold, and nothing on this page is insurance or financial advice.
