Blocked drains are a common issue that many Sydney residents face throughout the year.
Not only are they messy and inconvenient to deal with, but they can ruin your daily schedule and make your life difficult. It’s best to get the blockage fixed by professional plumbers as soon as possible, especially when it’s a stubborn one.
When dealing with such an emergency, the one question that comes to everybody’s mind is whether blocked drains are covered by home insurance or not. And it’s not a surprise since so many clauses are listed in a policy, thus often confusing the homeowners.
That’s why we bring you this guide to answer all your questions about blocked drains and insurance in Sydney. Rest assured, we’ll do our best to ensure that you don’t have to waste time going through the nitty-gritty of the insurance policy and take the required actions instead.
Now, without further ado, let’s jump right in.
3 Signs of A Blocked Drain
Before we come to our main topic, let’s take a look at the top three signs of a blocked drain so that you can easily identify and deal with it accordingly:
1. Gurgling Sound
When your drain is blocked, you will likely hear an unusual gurgling sound when flushing the toilet or turning on the tap. The trapped air causes this in the pipes.
2. Slow Drainage
Another tell-tale sign of a blocked drain is slow drainage in your toilet, sink and shower. In severe cases, the water might not drain at all.
3. Unpleasant Smells
Moving on, when drains are blocked, food particles and other substances start to build up and decompose in the pipes, which gives rise to an unpleasant smell coming from your drains. So, if you smell a stench when running the water, it’s probably because of a blocked drain.
Types Of Clogged Drains Covered By Insurance In Sydney
Before you go ahead and call the professionals, you must know what the home insurance covers. Insurance policies are often different; however, certain points are common regardless of the type of home insurance you take out.
Here, we have mentioned a couple of essential points that you need to know about the coverage of drains in a home insurance policy:
1. Liabilities And Responsibilities
Keep in mind that only the drains within your property are insured.
If there are connecting drains, the sections that fall inside your property will be insured. It’s worth noting that your neighbours are liable for areas of the drains that fall within their property, even if you share their usage.
More often than not, the repair and maintenance of such shared drains are not covered under home insurance. However, the final decision is up to the insurance providers, and you may need to take out a different policy to get insurance coverage for these.
That said, if the problem is traced to a drain in your neighbour’s area, they’ll have to ensure that they get it cleared.
2. Accidental Damage
When it comes to blocked drains, most home insurance policies cover accidental damages. But the problem is that it often gets tricky to define “accidental damage”, so an insurance company can avoid paying out mentioning some technicality.
Usually, corrosion of drains does not fall under the umbrella of accidental damage. However, sewer line damages caused due to tree roots or excavation nearby are indeed considered accidental damage.
Understanding Your Insurance Policy
So, you may be asking, what does my insurance cover? Well, there is no direct answer to whether your clogged drains are covered as many factors come into play.
But if your home and contents insurance policy mention explicitly the same, you are most likely on safe grounds. Also, all the structural damage caused due to water leakage from the drains will be covered under the policy.
However, keep in mind that an insurance policy will not cover the expenses incurred on repairing the blocked drains. That said, you may have to bear the expenses of clearing the blockage, repairing plumbing leaks or replacing pipes to prevent further blockages down the road.
Blocked Drains And Your Insurance Provider
With that, we have reached the end of our guide. And we hope that it has answered most of your questions regarding blocked drains and insurance coverage in Sydney.
Lastly, it is worth noting that home insurance policies are not always rigid. Also, the policies differ depending on the insurance companies. Hence, it’s a good idea to compare the available insurance policies and then choose the one that provides you with the ideal coverage for most plumbing issues in Sydney. We recommend attending to regular maintenance of your drains, to prevent clogs and any other water damage.
For assistance with blocked drain services, speak to our team at Fixed Today, our Sydney plumbers provide 24/7 urgent assistance and professional service for any plumbing emergencies.
On that note, it’s time for us to sign off. Until next time, stay safe!
