Water damage: the first hour, and what the insurer will ask
The claim starts while the water is still running. What you photograph then cannot be recreated later.
The instinct during a leak is always the same: shut it off, mop up, rescue what you can. That is the right order. It is just missing one step that takes thirty seconds and decides the whole claim.
Those thirty seconds
Photograph everything before you touch anything. The water on the floor, the stain on the ceiling, the dripping point, the ruined items where they lie. Once you have mopped, you cannot demonstrate the extent of the damage — only describe it. Description is not enough for an insurer.
Video is even better: walk through the flat and narrate what you see. You record more in a minute than in twenty photos.
Limiting the damage is not optional
After documenting, you do have to act. Policies generally expect you to mitigate — shut off the water, remove wet material, ventilate. If the damage grew tenfold because nothing happened for three days, that part is unlikely to be covered.
Who to call, in what order
- Shut-off — your own stopcock; in a block, the building manager or the neighbour if needed.
- Notify the insurer — most policies have a deadline measured in days. Do not wait until you know the extent.
- A trade for the source — plumber, roofer, depending on where it comes from.
- In a block of flats, tell the building manager: liability turns on whether the fault was in common or private property.
What the loss adjuster wants to see
The adjuster usually arrives once everything has dried. That is what makes your first-hour photos valuable. Beyond them, expect to be asked for:
- When you noticed it, and when you reported it.
- What the source was, and who established that.
- Invoices for the repair — including emergency work.
- A list of damaged items, ideally with receipts or photos.
- If the fault came from a serviceable appliance: when it was last maintained.
That last line is the one most often missing. Damage from a ten-year-old water heater that was never checked is treated differently from damage from one serviced last year.
The neighbour downstairs
If the water came from your flat, document their damage too — in your own interest. A joint walk-through with photos on the day is far cheaper than a list drawn up three months later that you cannot verify.
Afterwards: the entry you will look for in two years
Once it is closed, record it in one place: what happened, when, what caused it, who fixed it, what it cost, and what the insurer paid. Leaks rarely happen once. The second time, the first record tells you whether the same fault came back — and that is the difference between a repair and a renovation.
Notification deadlines and cover differ by policy. Your own documents are what count — worth reading once before anything happens.