Dishwasher Leak – ~$10K Kitchen Damage, AAMI Rejected Insurance Claim, Dishwasher Manufacturer Doesn't Want to Know about It

eek on 08/07/2022 - 12:00
Last edited 08/07/2022 - 12:18 by 1 other user

Got a dilemma right now and rather annoyed. The dishwasher inlet valve fitting where it connects to the tap under my kitchen was faulty and leaked. Got a call one afternoon at work when my wife got home to find garage was flooded. The hose fitting had leaked under the cabinet, under the tiles and come out through the garage as the garage slab is lower than the house slab. Called a plumber that day to find the leak, turn the water off and the leak was stopped. Dishwasher technician came out about 2 weeks after and replaced the dishwasher inlet hose under warranty and has been fine ever since.

Lodged a claim with AAMI under home and contents insurance. I’ve had multiple people come and inspect my kitchen, take photos, moisture readings and give me an air scrubber due to mold under the cabinets. AAMI just called and now saying they are rejecting the claim as they consider it a ‘slow leak’.
There’s probably an estimated $10K or so of damage to my kitchen cabinets, skirting boards, wall linings, etc. Potentially more if there is damage to wall lining/insulation/timber framing behind cabinets. Moisture reading showed all the kick panels in the kitchen cabinets are still wet and the entire island bench (where the dishwasher and sink is) is very wet and moldy.

Contacted dishwasher company multiple times and they said they’ll don’t cover damages to kitchen if their dishwasher leaks.
I thought it would d have been a pretty straight forward claim, but AAMI doesn’t want to pay out. I had told the case manager maybe they could follow up with the dishwasher manufacturer to pay my insurance excess. Sent them my dishwasher purchase invoice, serial number and model number for them to follow up with dishwasher manufacturer to confirm they came out and replaced my inlet valve/hose under warranty.

I have an invoice from the plumber which just shows he turned up, found the leak and stopped it. Have lots of photos of us cutting up plaster boards to find potential leaks and video of leaking dishwasher valve. How quickly does the water leak need to be for AAMI to determine it to be a ‘slow leak’? It was dry in the morning and about 6 hours later the garage had a large puddle of water. Could see the water dripping out of the slab once wall lining was removed. Have an invoice from the plumber that day which says they found the dishwasher hose leaking and stopped it.

Waiting for AAMI to send me their assessor’s reports so I can go through the appeal process to protest their decision. Anybody been through a similar experience?

Home & Garden Dishwasher Home Insurance Insurance

Related Stores

AAMI
AAMI

Comments

        • meowsers on 09/07/2022 - 21:41

          I just checked our Budget Direct policy on one of our properties and it's included. In addition our Chubb home policy on a different property covers it as well…

          https://secure.budgetdirect.com.au/branding/resources/BUDD/l…

          Page 38 on the PDF, Page 36 on the actual numbering.

          • logistics on 09/07/2022 - 21:58
            +1

            @meowsers: I checked both Budget Direct and AAMI PDSs. They both have similar wording.
            They both cover leaks, but they also have a list of exclusions.

            One difference I noticed is that Budget specifically mentions 'slow leak', where as AAMI doesn't use the word 'slow'. This tells me that AAMI doesn't care if it's a slow leak.

            Budget:
            - https://secure.budgetdirect.com.au/branding/resources/BUDD/l…
            - Page 36 and 37

            AAMI:
            - https://www.aami.com.au/aami/documents/personal/home/aami-ho…
            - Page 47 and 48

            • meowsers on 09/07/2022 - 22:01
              +1

              @logistics: There is a very big difference to the list of exclusions between AAMI and Budget.

              Budget specifically allows slow leaks if they are not reasonably detected (ie mitigate loss)

              AAMI states that a gradual process is excluded.

              Budget will cover a gradual process. AAMI excludes it somewhat.

              I still don't see how slow leak wouldn't be covered under AAMIs policy unless the OP isn't telling us something.

              • logistics on 09/07/2022 - 22:16
                +3

                @meowsers: Good point.

                Completely agree regarding OP. How can a claim be denied if the customer is not aware of a leak to begin with?
                It's not like a home owner would go out of their way and ignore a leak in their own home and watch it cause more and more damage.

  • Willy Beamish on 09/07/2022 - 17:29
    -6

    Another one of the "who else can I blame because I was too lazy to monitor what is going on in my home" posts.

    Clearly a slow leak over time which is why there is so much damage, your fault for not keeping on top of it. They have water/moisture sensors with alarms for that kind of thing, if you had the foresight to install them you could've avoided this problem.

    • Mr Random on 12/07/2022 - 13:26

      So by that logic, no one should ever purchase insurance because we should purchase additional monitoring tools to make sure an appliance does not fail and cause serious damage. Better hope you have some redundancies in place in case your monitoring tools also fail!

      Be right back, cancelling my car insurance because I have emergency sensors equipped!

  • Roney on 09/07/2022 - 18:50

    AAMI? Hmmpf!

  • imurgod on 09/07/2022 - 18:55
    +3

    OP, if what you've posted is accurate, they have no grounds to deny the claim.

    PM me if you want some help.

  • Ryxxi on 09/07/2022 - 19:40
    +1

    Contact afca. Chargeback all your insurance payments and go to a diff insurer is all you can do.

    • eek on 09/07/2022 - 23:40

      I actually have two other insurance policies with Suncorp, which is AAMi which I will switch away now in light of this recent experience.

  • meowsers on 09/07/2022 - 20:32

    Man even budget direct has slow leak coverage. AAMI seems awful..

    From the budget direct PDS:
    "Loss or damage at the insured address caused by the sudden escape of
    liquid. You are also covered for damage from liquid that has escaped slowly
    over time that you couldn’t be reasonably aware of."

    Did I mention that AAMI also denied a claim due to a couple selling eggs?

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/couple-denied-aami-ho…

    • Willy Beamish on 09/07/2022 - 22:10
      +1

      Maybe they shouldn't have lied on their insurance application and disclosed they are running a business on the property?

      • meowsers on 09/07/2022 - 22:33

        There's a difference between a business from a liability perspective and this sort of unconscionable conduct.

      • FlyingMiffy on 09/07/2022 - 22:45
        +3

        That's not a good example though… it was an honesty box for eggs at the end of the driveway, hardly cause that creates additional risks for the items under insurance.

        • gromit on 10/07/2022 - 01:07

          It was a lot more than that as they had signs, an ABN and even a Facebook page for it

        • Chandler on 11/07/2022 - 10:12

          hardly cause that creates additional risks for the items under insurance.

          This is what got me. The house burnt down. The fact that they have an honesty box for selling eggs at the front of their property is irrelevant. Insurer is trying to get out of paying out the claim - whether or not they are "right" in doing so is debatable, but it is most certainly wrong from a moral standpoint.

          If they had the business noted on the policy (and likely paid more for the privilege), and they tried to claim the theft of the honesty box on the policy the insurer would probably deny the claim as it's not inside the house. And yet they'll deny the claim of a house fire as they have a business operating outside the house…

          I've always thought insurance would end up quietly ruling the world by controlling people's actions via what's covered/not covered; maybe I was right…

          • Prong on 12/07/2022 - 02:37

            @Chandler: They didn't deny the claim as such. They have said the policy wasn't valid as the business was not disclosed.

            When I compared home insurance, this came up. AAMI did not offer their home insurance if there was a business at the address where people came to the address. A business with no people coming to the address was fine.

            Insurance companies need better regulation, but in this case AAMI has a valid point. They don't offer insurance for this particular situation. The people would not have been offered insurance had they answered the questions accurately. They then could have gotten insurance from another provider that did offer the coverage they needed.

            There's an underlying issue of having an insurance system that's complex enough for this problem to exist. That needs additional regulation IMO.

  • justgooddeals on 09/07/2022 - 20:45

    AAMI the UN-insurance insurance company

  • FlyingMiffy on 09/07/2022 - 22:22

    We had a water problem with the hot water pipe that was below the floor boards in the kitchen. Called Budget Direct, they came out, did the assessment and paid us out. It was actually a fairly straight forward process (the area where the water escaped was beneath the ground and the duration were both in our favour). The work to have the old pipe terminated and a new one routed via the roof cavity was a much harder job which insurance didn't cover. If the OP is going to pursue, I would suggest checking out the expert reports and get a professional to give you an opinion (there are people who make a living doing or assessing reports for tribunals and insurance - for a previous roof leak issue we got one for about 350 bucks from a specialist plumbing consultant), they can advise if you have cause to challenge the assessment.

  • McFly on 09/07/2022 - 22:46
    +2

    Lucky you're with AAMI!

  • mrvaluepack on 09/07/2022 - 23:26

    I realised insurance was a gamble in the end. I'd rather use the money from insurance to invest.

    If people don't have enough cash savings to replace/repair it, they shouldn't really be owning it. Should either rent or find other alternatives.

  • Capo93 on 09/07/2022 - 23:41
    +2

    Ex appliance technical rep here for a manufacture.

    First thing first, you need to check what kpa output your tap has. Most brand dishwasher hoses are rated at 800kpa, more expensive brands like Miele are rated at 1000kpa or more but I don’t know what brand you have.

    So check what kpa the tap is doing, check what kpa the hose is rated at. If the tap kpa is lower then the hose I would take the argument up with the manufacture as the house is faulty. If the tap kpa is higher then the hose rating then the manufacture would class it as installation fault, in that case you will be left to fight it out with AAMI. If it is lower one thing the manufacture could say is you’re meant to turn the tap off after every use(sounds crazy to do that but I’ll put money on it your instruction manual says to)

    If you have anymore questions feel free to PM me.

    • eek on 09/07/2022 - 23:49
      +1

      Thanks! I gave Beko a week or two to respond after the incident and kept saying they don't take responsibility or cover damage like this.

      I'll have to rig up something tomorrow to connect it onto the tap. I have a spare pressure gauge sitting around, just need to find the right fittings. Dishwasher was a Beko one purchased late 2020.

      • Capo93 on 09/07/2022 - 23:59
        +1

        Ehh Beko was who I use to work for, awkward haha.

        What state are you in?

        • Muzeeb on 10/07/2022 - 05:20
          +2

          State of Despondency

        • eek on 10/07/2022 - 16:59

          QLD. In Brisbane.

      • misterpotatomato on 10/07/2022 - 09:56
        +1

        It is illegal for them to say and do this under the Australian Consumer Law. Call them again if you have to, try to get them to say they don't cover consequential damages, and then ask them if they know that it is illegal to do so? Under https://www.accc.gov.au/business/treating-customers-fairly/c….

        I wrote a more detailed comment further down.

        • Capo93 on 11/07/2022 - 23:24
          +1

          The customer also has to not be neglect or the person who installed it. Before pushing it onto the manufacture they need to show it is installed and operated as per its design.

  • paloverde88 on 10/07/2022 - 00:14
    +1

    Insurance does not cover poor workmanship installing appliances must show they are qualified with paper not just oh I am experienced

  • misterpotatomato on 10/07/2022 - 09:55
    +2

    I AM NOT A LAWYER. ONLY A FOOL WOULD TAKE THE BELOW AS LEGAL ADVICE.

    In reality, you shouldn't be going to your insurance. Your excess will just go up, even if Beko covers it.

    Approach Beko and tell them about your rights under the Australian Consumer Law (as at https://www.accc.gov.au/business/treating-customers-fairly/c…). Email them and give them a deadline to have a response.

    If they don't get back to you, draft and send a Demand Letter (draft is here: https://business.gov.au/people/disputes/write-a-letter-of-de…), citing your rights under the ACL and give another deadline. Get someone to approximate a cost in repairs and include this in the demand letter. Include in the letter if you don't hear back you will escalate to QCAT (or equivalent).

    If they still don't get back to you, take it to QCAT.

    I had a water leak from my Fisher Paykel fridge and I quoted the ACL to them, and they replaced the kitchen cabinetry.

    It seems like if this is completed caused by a faulty part (and not you overtightening it) the ACL should definitely help you out. I wouldn't go to your insurance because you will just jack up your own premiums for no good reason, for something that is BEKO's fault.

  • Danger on 10/07/2022 - 10:24
    +1

    'Un'lucky you are with AAMI

  • GourmetFoodie on 10/07/2022 - 14:56

    Almost went with AAMI but thank f I didn’t.
    Good luck OP. Hope you got straight to ombudsman. Don’t waste time with their internal complaints department if they are not even picking up the phone.

  • Korban Dallas on 10/07/2022 - 16:54
    +1

    Insurance covers SFA. Unless your house burns down or gets flooded.

    And when it does it's cheaper to just get it repaired or replace it yourself.

    A/C motor burn out, HWS all cheaper replacing myself than paying the excess.

    Cabinets should have held up pretty good if it was a once off event.

    I was a cabinet maker.

    Sounds like a long standing issue?

    • eek on 10/07/2022 - 17:04
      +2

      It's just the kick panels and base. I think it's due to the way the cabinets were built. They're not on plastic legs like flat pack cabinets are. They're on a fully enclosed MDF plinth directly on the slab, which is lower than the tile levels. To make things better the kick panels were sealed against the tiles with polyurethane sealant (sikaflex type sealer). No where for the water to go or dry out without using a 3ft pry bar and sledge hammer to break off all the kick panels…which is what AAMI's contractor did during inspections.

      • john_conner on 11/07/2022 - 15:06

        But wouldn’t most of the water have flowed “out” the cabinet, not “under” it? As taps are usually in the under sink cupboard. Just trying to understand how all this water got to be under the cabinets.

        • eek on 11/07/2022 - 15:46
          +1

          Water was wicking it's way down the hose through the opening in the bottom of the cabinet. Hose travels under the cabinet then across to dishwasher cavity. Opening in the cabinet had to be enarged from 5cm to about 7cm since the dishwasher has a big bulky valve on the end of it. The rest of the water in the cabinet was absorbed by the embarrassingly large amount of spare tea towels, sponges, dishwasher tablets etc sitting in there.

    • watwatwat on 11/07/2022 - 14:01
      +1

      Unless your house burns down or gets flooded.

      Hold that thought. Check the terms on conditions on flooding and they are strict and they'll try not to pay out on that, too.

  • Amanda3724 on 10/07/2022 - 21:13
    +4

    Make a formal complaint about their decision. You have nothing to lose apart from the time it takes to write it. I found the ACCC very helpful using a letter template on their website and it worked a treat with a successful outcome.
    Good luck 🤞🏻

  • PurchaseAnxiety on 11/07/2022 - 12:05
    +3

    Probably already echoing other sentiments in this thread, but I'd be looking at two avenues:
    - Demanding (in writing) damages from the dishwasher manufacturer. By replacing the inlet valve under warranty, they've acknowledged that the product was faulty and there's a clear link between that fault and the damage caused. Use the insurers assessment as proof of damage and the cost of repair. They will no doubt shut you down in immediately, but just keep escalating and take it to your state specific dispute resolution authority if needed. https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees…
    - Get into the nitty gritty of your policy PDS. Ask AAMI where your scenario is excluded in the PDS, and then spend some time reading and understanding it for yourself. Chances are, like many exclusions, it's open to interpretation and AAMI have no doubt interpreted in a way that benefits them. Go back to them with specific parts of their PDS that show your claim is valid (if it indeed is). I'd also be asking why you were told different things by the in-person assessor and the written assessment you received from AAMI. How did that assessment change, and what was the reasoning behind it? They might be making assumptions based on gaps in the contractor's assessment.

    Good luck OP.

  • xt20 on 11/07/2022 - 13:21
    +2

    Had a similar issue - water filter connector component cracked due to overtightening 8 years before, caused massive flooding as I was away during that period. Damage was around $70k. SGIO covered 100% of it. Couldn't fault them.

  • Mogwai10 on 11/07/2022 - 13:30

    My first contribution to comments so apologies if this already been covered.
    Check your PDS if there's a section that touch on "Escape of Liquid". Basically it covers the damage resulting from the liquid but not the source of the leak itself. So in this case, I'd imagine your dishwasher repair is at your cost but the damage resulting from the liquid can be claimed. I've done so with my second level piping leaking (maintenance issue) which repair of the pipe was not covered but the ceiling damage, carpets, etc was covered.

  • tezza on 11/07/2022 - 20:27
    +2

    Just dispute it internally with them and if you don't get a satisfactory outcome, escalate it externally to AFCA. In my opinion it should be covered and not considered a slow leak

  • serpserpserp on 11/07/2022 - 21:42
    +1

    I had told the case manager maybe they could follow up with the dishwasher manufacturer to pay my insurance excess.

    OH man, I bet the case manager put you on mute and let out the loudest belly laugh when they heard that.

    • eek on 12/07/2022 - 10:21
      +1

      I literally heard from her 3 times. Once when my claim was allocated to her. Once to say they're still reviewing the case and the final time was to say the claim was closed already and rejected. Go talk to our complaints department. Goodluck and goodbye.

  • utsc on 12/07/2022 - 09:18
    +1

    Contact ABC News as this is the second Story
    AAMI denies home insurance claim after couple fails to disclose they sell eggs at their gate
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/couple-denied-aami-ho…

    • UltimateAI on 12/07/2022 - 11:10

      Ohh my goodness AAMI sound like crooks

  • UltimateAI on 12/07/2022 - 10:43

    The lesson here is always call the Insurance company first and wait for their trades person \ assessor.
    ie: Turn off the water at the mains, but don't call your own plumber.

    They have emergency trades people on call and they want to get paid, so they will use the correct wording to the insurer so they get approved to do the work.
    If it's less urgent they send an assessor, but not when you have a flooded garage they would send their plumber.

    • eek on 12/07/2022 - 10:58
      +4

      Yes I know. I tried on the day. 4 attempts all call, all put on hold, ranging from 18mins to 50mins. All calls got disconnected before I could speak to someone.

      Ended up calling my own plumber. Even when submitting the claim online, it was a few days until the claim manager contacted me and asked if I needed a plumber! As any sane home owner I wanted to stop the leak ASAP.

      The contractor that came out said the same thing to me and I told them the calls to AAMI were a dead end. Bit like their internal complaints department going straight to voicemail. Just shrugged his shoulders and said I should have kept trying.. It was about 3pm on a Friday, I was lucky to find a local plumber to come help me out on such short notice!

      • UltimateAI on 12/07/2022 - 11:02
        +2

        I understand hind-sight is always wonderful. Turning off the water should have been the first step protecting the home, before the call.
        These situations are stressful.

        I actually did something similar in the storms. Water was flooding, almost about to come into the home, the next week we had even more rain torrential rain forecast so I called my own plumber and had the stormwater drains replaced (blocked with tree roots).

        Would have been covered (tree roots are classed as accidental), if I had waited but chose to pay out of my pocket and protect the property. Which by the way worked a treat!!!
        So perhaps not the smartest financial move, but for sure I would have flooded the first floor if I didn't act.

  • od810 on 12/07/2022 - 11:01
    +3

    My friend got similar issues with CommInsure, some of the claims (few thousands $ worth) they managed to escalate and got approved by threatening bring the insurer to the Financial Ombudsmen

    • Dr Techno on 12/07/2022 - 12:15

      I think when you escalte to Financial Ombudsmen, insurance company will get charged $5k (might be higher now). So they will do whatever is most cost effective for them.

  • Dr Techno on 12/07/2022 - 12:13
    +1

    Friends had similar issue when they moved into a new townhouse and used the dishwasher for few times. water got under the laminate floor boards for the whole open plan area around the kitchen. friend works in insurance industry. his insurance company were dragging their feet, then he mentioned if you dont address the issue soon you will be up for the cost of mould remediation & health impacts associated with that. insurance company gave in, in the end. I had a bad experience with AAMI before with car, never again.

  • butwhy on 12/07/2022 - 17:24
    +1

    https://www.afca.org.au/make-a-complaint/insurance
    Try the insurance ombudsman. Though I had an issue with AAMI vs RACV for motor insurance, and the ombudsman was completely useless and toothless. Nevertheless I'd give them a go. Good luck

    Some asides:
    - Aqua Stop hoses may have helped to prevent this. My Bosch dishwasher came with it, but come to think of it, my LG clothes washing machine didn't.
    - As someone else has mentioned, check your water pressure, if it is high, get a pressure reducing valve installed next to your water meter to protect the whole house.
    -Burst flexihoses is the most common cause of insurance claims these days. I prophylactically change mine every 7 odd years.

    • eek on 06/09/2022 - 13:24

      Not sure what an aqua stop hose is, but the dishasher has a hose with a big solenoid valve at the end of it - not sure I can replace it with anything else. Looks like this: https://bigwarehousesparesaus.appspot.com/images/lg-ld-1415m…
      I'd need to dismantle the bottom panel to replace the hose as it has an electrical connection to it too.

      As for flexihoses, yes the dates are marked on the labels from when the house was built so can change those when the time comes.

  • watwatwat on 30/08/2022 - 21:57
    +2

    Any update OP?

    I think of this thread whenever I see an AAMI ad on TV.

    • eek on 06/09/2022 - 13:20
      +2

      Went through AAMI internal complaints process. Got a letter saying they still think the leak happened over an extended period. Not sure how having water flooding my garage and fixing it same day is considered a slow leak. Anyways, looks like it's time to escalate to ombudsman or legal route.

    • eek on 14/02/2024 - 10:09

      Still wouldn't budge - ombudsman didn't go anywhere either. Didn't have the time to deal with having a broken kitchen with 2 young kids and busy lives. Cost me $3.5k - I had the kicks and island bench panels replaced. Island bench carcass was treated for mold. Rest of the kitchen was tested for mold and was clear so I've left them as is.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join