Will house insurance cover damage discovered a month after a leak?

SR1990

I came back after a week away from my house to discover the kitchen flooded. The bathroom is directly above the kitchen and the toilet flush button had not popped back up after the last use and so water had been running into the bowl from the cistern for a week. I don't know why this could cause a leak the water level in the toilet remained constant but some pipe must have leaked beneath the toilet. My question is if insurance would cover this as I will be reporting damage about a month after the event as I had hoped little damage had been done (I mopped up everything and hoped that would be the end of it)but there is mould behind the kitchen units where the water came down and I am concerned that the integrity of the ceiling has been affected (hard to know as there is a tongue and groove wooden ceiling above the kitchen). Am I best to get an assessor out first or go for a few quotes, there will I assume be tiles that have to come up in the bathroom and part of the wooden ceiling removed to assess damage further. Thanks in advance to anyone who may have advise of this!

Eggs For Dinner

You are obliged to notify your insurer as soon as possible upon the discovery of an incident which may give rise to a claim. The reason for this is to ensure prompt action to minimise the loss. In your circumstances, it would appear that you addressed the cause immediately, so I don't envisage a problem. To refuse indemnity, the insurer must establish that the delay prejudiced their position

As for engaging a loss assessor, there are plusses and minuses for doing this. Usually, they take at least 10% of your settlement, leaving you with a shortfall to reinstate your property. On the other hand, they are excellent at dealing with any pushback from the insurer over late notification. They are also experts at seeing damage you may not have spotted yourself and for knowing your full entitlement under the terms and conditions of your policy

SR1990

@Eggs For Dinner sincere thanks for your reply - very much appreciated!

Fann Linn

Plus 1 for engaging the loss assessor as far as I'm concerned. I got one who also covered a leak in my house and he did a full assessment of not only the kitchen but the adjoining rooms etc because the water flowed every where . Places I wouldn't have dreamt of. He had equipment which detected the flow under the floors and then put a cost together for repair and replacement. He then met onsite the actuary working on behalf of the insurance company and he dealt with him fully. If I recall correctly I think I had the cheque in my bank account within a month of the incident and apart from one phone call to the insurer on day one I never had to deal with anyone apart from my loss adjuster.

It was well worth 10% as far as I am concerned.