For London Insurers
Trace and Access London
Trace and access is not a service you buy. It is a clause in your buildings policy, and most people meet it for the first time while standing in a wet hallway. Understanding what it does and does not reach, before you commission anything, is worth more than any contractor can do for you afterwards.
What the extension does and does not reach
| Invoice line | How it is treated | When it is settled |
|---|---|---|
| Finding the source of the escape | Normally within the extension, up to the stated limit | Fixed fee agreed before attendance |
| Opening up to get at it | Normally within the extension, if proportionate | Justification recorded at the time |
| Putting back what was opened | Normally within the extension, to the access only | Priced against the recorded opening |
| The failed pipe or fitting | Normally outside it, the pipe is your own cost | Quoted as a separate line |
| Damage the water caused | A different section of the policy, with its own excess | Scoped after drying |
Fee basis, not a quote, and not a statement of what your own policy covers. Our detection figure is fixed and confirmed in writing before anyone travels.
In outline: it is written to meet the cost of finding a leak and of opening up and making good to reach it. It is normally tied to an insured escape of water that has actually caused damage. It carries its own limit, printed in your schedule, separate from the main claim. And it usually stops short of repairing the failed pipe itself, which remains yours.
What we do is the part that clause is written to pay for. We locate the leak, take the least destructive route to it, record the access and the reason for it, and produce findings in the form a loss adjuster expects. What we will not do is tell you your claim is covered. That is your insurer's decision under your wording, and ours is not the signature on the policy.
Our pricing is structured on a fixed-fee or time-and-materials basis, fully transparent and justified within our report. All costs are itemised for straightforward inclusion in your claim settlement.
What you get
- Comprehensive Leak Reports: Detailed documentation including moisture mapping, thermal imaging, and pinpointed source identification for your claim file.
- Minimised Invasive Work: We use advanced acoustic, thermal, and tracer gas detection to locate leaks with minimal disruption, controlling repair costs.
- Clear Access Documentation: Photographic and written records of all necessary access points, justifying every step for the loss adjuster.
- Expert Witness Ready: Our findings and methodology are prepared to the standard required for potential dispute resolution.
- Rapid London-Wide Response: Our teams are strategically located to reach properties across the capital promptly, limiting secondary damage.
- Direct Liaison: We communicate directly with loss adjusters and brokers, providing the technical clarity needed for swift claim progression.
How it works
A method, not a guess
01
Read the schedule before instructing anyone
Find the trace and access limit and the escape of water excess in your own documents, and ask your insurer whether they want to appoint the contractor or whether you may. Ten minutes here changes what the rest of the process is worth.
02
Get the claim reference and any authority in writing
Where the insurer or adjuster pre authorises the survey, that is the document that turns our invoice into a recoverable line. Where they do not, you instruct us directly and recover afterwards. Either route works. Mixing them up is what causes disputes.
03
Survey to the least destructive route
Non invasive methods first, cross confirmed, then the smallest opening that reaches the failure. This is not only about your floor. Proportionate access is the test an adjuster applies when deciding whether the access line was reasonable.
04
Record cause, origin and the access decision
The mechanism of failure, its physical location referenced to something findable, the methods that established each, moisture readings with locations, and dated photographs of the opening and what was behind it.
05
Make good, and invoice in separable lines
Detection, access, reinstatement and pipe repair appear as distinct lines rather than one figure. An adjuster who cannot separate the claimable portion from the non claimable one will ask, and the asking is what adds weeks.
Six things to check in your policy before you instruct anyone
Find the trace and access limit in your own schedule
It is a separate sum from your main buildings limit and it is printed in your documents rather than being an industry standard you can look up. That number decides the shape of the work. A generous limit supports running a complex investigation through in one visit. A modest one is a reason to stage the survey, agree a scope in advance and avoid speculative access entirely. Nobody can tell you what yours is except your schedule, and reading it takes about two minutes once you know the phrase to search for.
Check the escape of water excess separately
The excess applying to escape of water is frequently higher than the standard policy excess, and it is deducted from the overall claim rather than from the trace and access line specifically. That matters when you are deciding whether to claim at all. A modest amount of damage plus a detection fee can sit below a raised excess, in which case claiming achieves nothing except a recorded claim on your history. Work out the total figure before you notify, not after.
Ask whether they want to appoint the contractor
Insurers differ. Some maintain panels and require you to use them, some will authorise your choice, and some leave it entirely to you. Ring and ask specifically: may I instruct my own detection contractor, and will the trace and access line be met if I do. Note who told you and when. Where pre authorisation is given, get it in writing or by email, because a verbal authority from a call handler is worth very little once a file has moved to a different team.
Understand that the failed pipe is usually yours
This is the most common surprise in escape of water claims and it is written into most wordings. The extension is aimed at locating the leak and at the access and making good required to reach it, while the replacement of the failed component sits outside. On an accessible joint the amounts are small. On a buried supply run or a screeded heating loop they are not. Knowing which category your suspected failure falls into changes how you plan the whole job, so ask the question before the survey rather than after.
Notify quickly and describe only what you observed
Gradual deterioration is the exclusion that decides most disputed escape of water claims, and the language used in the first phone call regularly ends up quoted in a decline letter. Report the day you discover damage. Say when you found it, not how long you imagine it had been happening. Speculation offered helpfully in a call gets recorded as a statement of fact. Being precise is not being evasive, and it is the single cheapest thing you can do to protect a legitimate claim.
Know who decides, and who to go to if it goes wrong
Coverage is your insurer's decision under your wording. If you think it has been decided wrongly, the framework is public: the FCA Insurance: Conduct of Business Sourcebook at ICOBS 8.1.1R requires claims to be handled promptly and fairly, and ICOBS 8.1.2R prohibits unreasonable rejection. The Financial Ombudsman Service publishes decisions on escape of water complaints, which are worth reading before accepting a refusal. A detection contractor can give you findings of fact. Arguing the claim on your behalf is a regulated loss assessor's role, and it is a different profession from ours.
Compare like for like
What the extension reaches, and where it stops
Trace and access is an extension inside the buildings section of a policy. It has a limit, printed in your own schedule, and it normally attaches only where an insured escape of water has already caused damage. Almost every disappointment we see comes from treating it as a standalone benefit that pays for leak detection on demand.
| What to check | A one line invoice | A detection only firm | Emergency Leak Detection 247 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limit checked before instructing | Never raised, and you discover the limit after the work is done. | Not their concern. | We ask you to read the trace and access limit and the excess in your own schedule before booking, because it sometimes changes what you should instruct. |
| Damage requirement explained | Not explained. A survey with no resulting damage is commissioned and then declined. | Not explained. | The extension generally needs an insured escape of water that has caused damage. Where that condition may not be met we say so before attending, not afterwards. |
| Notification before work | Not mentioned, and some insurers will not meet costs incurred before they were told. | Not mentioned. | We ask whether your insurer requires pre authorisation, because instructing first and notifying second is a recoverable mistake only sometimes. |
| Gradual deterioration | Unaddressed, which leaves the file exposed on the exclusion most likely to defeat it. | Unaddressed. | Where evidence points at long term seepage rather than a sudden failure, the report describes what was actually observed and lets the wording be applied to it. |
| Finding versus reaching | Merged into one figure, so the two halves of the extension cannot be assessed separately. | Only the finding, with the reaching left to another contractor and another invoice. | Both are quoted separately and both are described, since the extension is written to meet the cost of locating the leak and of opening up and making good to reach it. |
| Reinstatement scope | Whatever gets argued after the fact. | Not offered. | Making good runs to the access that was taken, no further, and the recorded extent of the opening is what that figure is argued from. |
| The pipe itself | Included in the same figure as everything else, which drags an excluded item into a covered line. | Not their work. | Quoted as a separate line, because the extension does not generally pay to replace the failed pipe and pretending otherwise delays the parts it does pay for. |
| What we will not claim | That everything is covered. | Nothing either way. | That a report guarantees payment. It does not. We are a detection and reporting contractor, we do not act for your insurer, and the decision is theirs on their wording. |
What claimants ask
The questions policyholders and agents ask most
The insurance discussions are where people end up after the leak is fixed and the argument starts. Read enough escape of water discussions and the same five disputes appear, almost always about wording, timing and who was told what.
Claims declined as gradual damage after a helpful phone call
The most painful thread pattern: a policyholder describes the damage honestly, adds that the area had seemed a bit damp for a while, and finds that phrase quoted back in a decline letter under a gradual deterioration exclusion. Replies consistently advise reporting the date of discovery and describing only what was observed. Our take is that this is not about being cagey. It is that speculation offered in good faith gets recorded as a statement of fact, and the distinction between sudden and gradual decides more escape of water claims than anything else.
Surprise at discovering the pipe repair is not covered
Posters regularly arrive expecting the whole bill to be claimable and learn that the replacement of the failed component sits outside both the escape of water section and the trace and access extension. The board consensus is to read the schedule before instructing anyone. Our take is the same, with one addition: the sums differ enormously depending on where the failure is. An accessible joint is trivial. A buried supply run or a screeded heating loop is not, and that is worth knowing before the survey rather than after.
Uncertainty about whether permission was needed first
A frequent question is whether a homeowner can instruct their own detection contractor or must use the insurer's panel. The answers vary because the policies vary, and the discussions that end badly are usually the ones where nobody asked. Our take is to ring, ask explicitly whether you may instruct your own contractor and whether the trace and access line will be met, and get it in writing. A verbal authority from a call handler carries very little weight once a file moves teams.
Leaseholders unsure whose policy responds
Flat to flat discussions follow a familiar arc: water through a ceiling, a neighbour who denies it, a managing agent who is slow, and nobody sure whether to claim on their own policy or the block's. The practical consensus is to notify the agent in writing immediately and establish the origin independently. Our take is that liability in a block turns on a factual question about pipework, and that a documented finding settles what months of correspondence will not.
Arguments about whether the opening up was reasonable
A quieter but recurring complaint involves insurers questioning the scale of access taken to reach a leak, and contractors unable to justify it after the fact. Forum advice is to photograph and document as work proceeds. Our take is that proportionality is judged against what was known when the decision was made, which is why cross confirming with more than one method before opening anything protects your floor and your access line at the same time.
Questions
Asked before every booking
Does trace and access pay for the pipe repair?
Usually not. Most wordings are written to meet the cost of locating the leak and of the access and making good needed to reach it, while the repair to the failed component stays with you. It is the most common misunderstanding in an escape of water claim and it is worth confirming against your own schedule before work starts, because the sums involved are rarely trivial.
There is a leak but nothing has been damaged. Will the clause respond?
Frequently not. Many wordings tie the extension to an insured escape of water, meaning there has to be damage for the detection to attach to. A sealed heating system quietly losing pressure with a dry house is the classic case. That does not mean leave it, since it will eventually cause damage. It means expect to fund the survey yourself and check the wording first.
Do I need permission before booking a survey?
Some insurers require pre authorisation and some do not, and a few maintain their own contractor panels. Ring them, ask specifically whether you may instruct your own detection contractor and whether the trace and access line will be met, and note who told you and when. If you are a leaseholder, ask the managing agent the same question, because the block policy may be the one responding.
My claim was declined as gradual damage. What now?
Read the decline letter against the actual wording and check whether the stated reason is supported by any evidence they hold. Under the FCA Insurance: Conduct of Business Sourcebook, ICOBS 8.1.1R requires claims to be handled promptly and fairly and ICOBS 8.1.2R prohibits unreasonable rejection, and the Financial Ombudsman Service publishes decisions on escape of water complaints. We can provide findings of fact on cause and origin. We cannot argue the claim, and anyone who offers to do that for you should be a regulated loss assessor.
Who pays when the leak is in a block of flats?
It turns on where the origin sits. Communal pipework normally falls to the freeholder or management company and is funded through the service charge, while a failure inside a private demise usually engages the block policy's trace and access clause with the excess handled per the lease. Which of those applies is a finding of fact about a pipe, and that finding is exactly what a survey produces.
What does trace and access cover actually pay for?
Broadly, the cost of finding a hidden leak and of opening up and making good in order to reach it. Broadly not, the repair or replacement of the pipe, fitting or appliance that failed. It sits in the buildings section with its own limit, printed in your schedule, and most wordings tie it to an insured escape of water that has caused damage. Your own documents are the authority on the limit, the excess and any pre authorisation requirement, and they differ meaningfully between insurers.
Do I need my insurer's permission before booking leak detection?
Sometimes. Some policies require pre authorisation, some operate contractor panels, and some leave the choice to you entirely. The safe sequence is to notify the claim, ask explicitly whether you may instruct your own contractor and whether the trace and access line will be met, and get the answer in writing. If you are a leaseholder, ask the managing agent the same questions, because the block policy may be the one responding rather than yours.
Can I claim trace and access if there is no damage yet?
Often not. Many wordings attach the extension to an insured escape of water, which implies damage for the detection to relate to. A sealed heating system losing pressure in a house with no visible damage is the classic example: the leak is real, the policy may still not respond. That is not a reason to leave it, since an unfound leak eventually causes the damage. It is a reason to expect to fund the survey yourself and to check the wording first.
Who pays for trace and access in a block of flats?
It depends on where the origin sits, which is a finding of fact about pipework rather than a negotiation. Communal pipework normally falls to the freeholder or management company and is funded through the service charge. A failure inside a private demise typically engages the block policy's trace and access clause, with the excess dealt with as the lease provides. Notify the managing agent in writing at the outset, because liability arguments in blocks are usually decided on who told whom, and when.
My escape of water claim was declined as gradual damage. What are my options?
Read the decline against the actual policy wording and identify what evidence the stated reason rests on. If the insurer is relying on an assumption rather than a finding, an independent survey establishing mechanism and cause may be relevant. Under ICOBS 8.1.1R claims must be handled promptly and fairly and under ICOBS 8.1.2R must not be unreasonably rejected, and the Financial Ombudsman Service publishes decisions in this area. We can supply findings of fact. We are not regulated to argue coverage, and anyone offering to do that for you should be a loss assessor.
Will a trace and access report guarantee my claim is paid?
No, and treat any contractor who says otherwise with caution. A report establishes what happened: cause, origin, method, extent, and the limits of the evidence. Whether those facts fall inside your policy is decided by your insurer and, in dispute, by the Financial Ombudsman Service. What a properly constructed report removes is the ability to decline or delay a claim on the basis that there is insufficient information about what occurred.
London-wide
Covering all 33 boroughs
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