Burst pipe in a bathroom

Water damage claim – September 2017

Background

Jonathan is a landlord of 12 properties in the Waikato region. Other than a few small glass claims in 20 years he had never lodged a claim.  He got a call on a Saturday from a tenant who had been on a holiday for a week. While away a pipe in the bathroom had burst; water had flooded the house damaging carpets. When Jonathan arrived at the property he found  the downstairs celling of his two-story property had collapse under the weight of the water pressure. Jonathan contacting a plumber who located the burst pipe and made repairs to stop the water flow.

Claim Process

Jonathan first tried to call Initio but being a weekend was able to find the after-hours emergency number. After hours services advised him to call Jae’s a carpet cleaning company. Jae’s turned up immediately and started cleaning and drying the house. Jonathan made sure he took photos of all areas where he could see that the water had affected. Monday morning he went online, logged into his dashboard and lodged his claim online. In the claim form, Jonathan provided a very detailed description of what had occurred.

The appointed loss adjuster contacted Jonathan to organise a time to inspect the property. The loss adjuster found there was a substantial amount of damage to the property that Jonathan had not been initially aware of. Both first and second levels had water damage to walls, carpets, tiles and the celling.

The damage to the property was consistent with a sudden and accidental loss, which Jonathan had declared. All costs to repair the consequential damage, including removing & replacing wall linings, replacing carpet, relaying tiles and painting were covered under Jonathan’s insurance policy.

Outcome

Jonathan was proactive getting correct advice and taking steps to minimise the damage. The policy responded exactly as he expected – the property was repaired, items were replaced, and it was restored back to the condition it was before the water damage event occurred. The cost of the claim was almost $50,000.

In the event you find yourself in a similar water damage situation to protect your property and minimise damage, call a plumber. In the first instance you need to stop the water flow and make emergency repairs. Make sure you take photos of damaged areas and contact Jae’s to arrange the cleaning and drying of your property. When you work with your insurer to provide detailed information, your claim can be serviced and completed without delays.

All claims are different, and they are assessed on their own merits and facts. The above profiles do not imply a guaranteed approached all such claims.