Anthony’s buildings insurance provider declined his claim to fix the soakaway in his drainage system saying it wasn’t covered in his policy.
What happened
Anthony noticed a bad smell in his house. He called a local drainage company, and it traced the problem to the soakaway at the end of his garden. At this point, Anthony realised there was a problem with his drainage system and contacted his insurer.
He told his insurer what the drainage company had said. The soakaway had become silted up, and water was now draining very slowly. This meant the pipe leading to the soakaway was full of water, which was causing the smell.
His insurer accepted what the company had found but rejected Anthony’s claim. It said his policy didn’t cover soakaways. It also told him the damage had been caused gradually, meaning the damage would be excluded even if the soakaway was covered.
Anthony didn’t think it was fair for his insurer to decline the claim without doing its own investigation. He also said the problem must have happened suddenly because he hadn’t noticed the smell before. Eventually, he brought his complaint to us.
What we said
We checked Anthony’s buildings insurance policy wording. It said that it covered ‘accidental damage to cables, pipes, septic tanks and drain inspection covers’. It also defined accidental damage as ‘damage caused suddenly and unexpectedly’.
We read the report from Anthony’s drainage company and spoke to an employee directly to find out more. They explained that the drainage led from the house to a septic tank designed to break down waste material. The leftover water then drained into a soakaway – a collection of loose materials and small stones in the ground.
We asked the drainage company whether the septic tank or any of the pipework leading to the soakaway was damaged or blocked. It said the main problem was with the soakaway, which had also caused the septic tank to become blocked.
In the end, we didn’t uphold Anthony’s complaint. We didn’t think his policy covered the soakaway issue because it couldn’t be described as a pipe or a septic tank. Also, since Anthony had already arranged for a drainage company to complete a detailed inspection, we didn’t see why the insurer needed to organise another.