How to claim for water damage
If you have home and contents insurance with Initio and your home suffers water damage, here’s what you need to do:
- Get the water turned off or at least isolate the leak to stop water flowing to it. You might need to get a plumber to do this for you.
- Make sure the house is safe. If the wiring could be wet, turn the power off and get an electrician to check it.
- Get the house dry quickly. Call a professional drying company such as ChemDry or JAE and get them to install some commercial dryers and blowers as soon as possible, they’ll also know if carpets need to be uplifted, walls opened and insulation removed etc.
- Log in to your dashboard on the Initio Website and click on Make a Claim, fill in the form and send us any photos you’ve taken. We’ll email or call you within 1 business day.
Black water alert
As a precaution, where homes have been contaminated by black water (sewage or storm water), extra care must be taken. See our guidelines on black water and cleaning up after a flood.
FAQs
Will Initio send an assessor?
An assessor won’t be able to do anything until the property is dry. If there is significant damage to your home afterwards, then we can get an assessor to go to site.
Can I use any plumber, electrician, drying company, or do Initio have approved companies that I must use?
You can use any repairer or supplier you like. So long as their costs are reasonable and you are happy with the standard of work, then we’re happy. Please be aware that in some instances the cost of the tradesman’s work may not be covered under your policy, that may still need to be determined.
What is my excess?
This amount is chosen by you when you buy the insurance, if you can’t remember, just check your policy schedule (you’ll find this document on your dashboard).
Our plumber has told us that the leak was caused by a rusted nail in a pipe in the wall, it’s been slowly leaking for the past few weeks but we’ve only just noticed it. Is this covered?
Because the damage has been happening over a long period of time, we need to claim under the ‘Hidden Gradual Damage’ benefit of the insurance policy. This benefit covers leaks stemming from internal water pipes and tanks that are hidden from site and have been leaking over a long period of time, the cover is capped at $3,000 and your excess will be deducted from that limit.
“All claims are different and they are assessed on their own merits and facts. The above does not imply a guaranteed approach to all such claims”
An Initio customer returned from a holiday overseas to discover a sudden burst pipe had resulted in almost $8,500 worth of damage. Initio paid the claim efficiently, straight to the customer’s bank account.