Trace & Access: Using Your Insurance
Trace and access is the part of most UK buildings insurance policies that covers the cost of finding a hidden leak and of opening up and reinstating whatever is in the way: floors, walls, driveways. Many people do not know they have it, pay for exploratory work themselves, or worse, let a leak run because they fear the cost. Check your policy schedule. Cover of £5,000 to £10,000 for trace and access is common.
What trace and access typically covers
- Professional leak detection: the survey that locates the leak
- Opening up: lifting floors, excavating, cutting access to the leak
- Reinstatement: making good the floor, wall or ground that was opened
The repair of the pipe itself is usually a modest cost and may sit outside the trace and access element; resulting water damage is normally claimed separately under the main buildings cover. Your insurer or loss adjuster will confirm the split, and our report gives them what they need to do so quickly.
What your insurer wants to see
Insurers act on evidence. Every LeakSleuth survey produces a written report designed for claims handlers and loss adjusters:
- The reported symptoms and the methods used (pressure testing, thermal, gas, acoustic)
- Findings with thermal images and photographs
- The confirmed leak location, marked and photographed
- What access and reinstatement the repair requires
How the process usually runs
- You notice a leak symptom: pressure loss, damp, high bills.
- Call us. We survey and pinpoint the leak, and you receive the report.
- Notify your insurer. Send the report with your claim; many customers are reimbursed for the survey fee itself under trace and access.
- Repair and reinstatement. We can quote for the repair; reinstatement proceeds once the insurer confirms cover.
We are detection specialists, not claims managers. We do not take over your claim or charge a percentage. We give you the evidence and you keep control.