A NUMBER OF insurance companies have confirmed they are changing their home insurance cover to include the loss of metered water in the case of a leak, with one deciding on a limit of €1,000.
Anything beyond that will have to be paid by the homeowner.
Irish Water has previously said that it would not charge to fix leaks in a homeowner’s garden the first time, but after that, they are on their own. The next time it happens, they will have to pay for it to be fixed, as well as facing a potentially significant water bill.
Insurance company Allianz said that it would, of course, pay claims for water damage arising from leaks but cover for lost water will be capped at €1,000.
A spokesperson for Liberty Insurance told TheJournal.ie that the company is reviewing its cover as the firm covers accidental loss of metred water as a standard feature of its household cover in Northern Ireland. They said the plan is to provide a similar feature once there is greater clarity on the scale of water charges.
Aviva said it will also be waiting for clarity on charges before deciding how it might insure customers against it.
“As it stands, we do not know for definite if the charge is to be fixed or based on metered use nor do we know the level of the charge,” a spokesperson said. “It’s not possible to calculate the exposure of customers to the risk of a leak in the new charging arrangement without this information.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say