Trace and access included in your policy? – Escape of water and water damage claims are commonly handled by Aspray but, some of these claims can put policyholders hundreds, or even thousands, of pounds out of pocket if their policy does not include one potentially invaluable clause, trace and access.
What is Trace and Access?
Trace and access covers the costs of damage incurred to your property when finding a leak.
For example, you may experience a leak in your bathroom and in order to fix the leak your bath must be removed. During the process, your bath and several wall tiles are damaged.
Once the leak has been fixed it’s time to put your home back together however, your insurance policy does not include any trace and access. Therefore, your insurance company may cover the cost of repairing the damage caused by the leak, but not the cost of finding the leak or the reinstatement of any damage caused as part of the leak investigation. Consequently, the cost of repairing the damage caused to your bath and wall tiles falls directly on you.
Sadly, Aspray has seen this shortfall catch out policyholder’s time and again.
Is Trace and Access standard on an insurance policy?
Trace and access may come as standard on some policies but not all and you will need to check your policy documents or speak with your insurer to ensure that you are covered.
Gocompare.com conducted a study of 323 home insurance policies and found that 84% of these offered some level of trace and access cover.
Different insurance policies may offer different levels of cover as standard, and it is always worth checking your documents to ensure that the level within your policy, if there is, in fact, any trace and access cover at all, is sufficient for your needs.
Claiming on your Trace and Access Cover
When making an insurance claim that involves trace and access, it can be important to ensure that no more damage than necessary is made to your property by any appointed tradespeople. Should your insurance company deem the work excessive and unnecessary, they may refuse to pay for the full repair.
What to do if you discover a water leak in your home
If you discover a water leak in your home your first step should be to turn off your water supply to restrict any further damage to your property. Next, you may need to call an emergency plumber to find and fix the leak, this is where trace and access cover may come in handy.
Some insurance providers may specify emergency tradespeople that they wish you to use so it is always worth checking your policy or speaking with your insurer directly at this stage.
Discovering a leak in your home can be distressing enough, not knowing where the leak is coming from can add a whole host of extra problems. Over the years, Aspray has dealt with various water damage claims, putting properties back to their pre-loss condition as swiftly as possible.
For more information, regarding water damage to the home visit https://aspray.com/domestic-property-claims/residential-water-damage/.