2nd Storey Bathroom Leak Covered by Insurance?

parad0x on 31/07/2025 - 11:09
Last edited 31/07/2025 - 12:40

Hi Bargainers,

I'm open to opinions of course, but ideally I would like to hear from those who have been in the same situation and the outcome, or those who work in insurance and can provide an insiders insight.

Having spoken to a bathroom restoration company, they basically said there's about 0% chance of it being approved from their experience (and I don't see any reason for them to mislead me, if anything insurance jobs bring in more money), and I have 2 semi informed opinions that it should be. Zero instances.

From what I can say, sis water as been either running off the end of a door that needs slamming to latch, or an accumulation of dripped water/wet mats exiting the shower has led to a removable tile, with obvious surface rot. I snapped a single photo and closed it up as best I could (PM me if you'd like to provide some expert feedback and I'll upload it )

In your experience have you been successful with a similar situation (2nd story pre-waterproof-age leak through to subfloor) being covered by insurance? If yes, is there anything particular that can be done to help increase the likelihood prior to opening that door?

Simplified for… Simplicity.

Home & Garden Home Insurance Insurance

Comments

  • dasher86 on 31/07/2025 - 12:18
    +12

    I couldn't follow the thread, but sounds like maintenance not kept up not insurance.

  • JimB on 31/07/2025 - 12:30
    +2

    Only your insurance company can answer that.

    However, as dasher86 stated, it sounds like a lack of maintenance/waterproofing rather than an insurance claim.

    Insurance isn't to improve the bathroom or bringing it to up to current waterproofing standards but to repair the damage to the standard prior to the damage.

    You may find that the excess is more than getting a tiler to glue down the single loose tile due to 'accumulation of dripped water/wet mats exiting the shower"

    It's 30 years old. It's fair that you pay to for your own renovation than try to claim insurance for it (and increase the premiums for everyone else).

    • parad0x on 31/07/2025 - 12:33

      It can't be repaired below the current standard, which means full waterproof. You can't modify a non waterproofed bathroom within regulations,.without waterproofing it.

      • JimB on 31/07/2025 - 12:38

        insurance is to repair damage not improve.

        If you crash your 30yo car without ABS, do you expect your insurer to repair it or replace it with a car with ABS, Stability Control and Autonomous Emergency Braking because all new cars sold today require these to be sold in Australia?

        • parad0x on 31/07/2025 - 12:42

          That's a great example. But doesn't apply because ABS is not.a.regulatorry requirement. Let alone the more advanced technology you also drag in

          • brendanm on 31/07/2025 - 16:50

            @parad0x: All of the things JimB mentioned are a regulatory requirement for new cars sold here.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 31/07/2025 - 12:32

    My biggest concern is that from 2 places that I've had come out, neither of them looked at the damage to the wood with their own eyes, just went off a single photo I took months ago before pvc taping the crapper out of it.

    The thread is a bit jumbled like dasher86 said - were the 2 places people you organized yourself or through insurance?

    Usually with these kind of damage, black mould is a huge issue and potential actual danger.

    I ask this because we are still going through a water ingress insurance job from the cyclone earlier this year.
    Hugely long story but we've had 1 mob come back FIVE times in 3 months as the dampness in the wall looks to be an ongoing issue.
    But these guys ONLY deal with mould/restoration work - they addressed the black mould on the walls, and sprayed behind the window trims that had come loose then taped it back up saying thats the extent of their work. They have made request to ask a 3rd party leak detection team, and a third party builder to come through and do their assessment as well - but as I have found through another water ingress upstairs a few years ago, the dividing and compartmentalising of a job is actually pretty strict and frequently involves more than 1 business.

    Ultimately yeah only your insurance provider could really say for sure.

    Trades can give all their thoughts on it they want, but its not them paying the end bill.

    • parad0x on 31/07/2025 - 13:07

      Being a black mould experienced person, is there black mould and THE black mould?
      The Mrs had gotten into the habbit of steaming the bathroom for 20min, and we had (by all accounts what appeared to be) surface mould present on the roof in the second winter and countless heat bulbs replaced and still doesn't see the correlation…

      I saw mould and went.oh crap black.mould I'm going to die, and bought a dehumidifier and it's never returned and nothing more than surface treatments were used to clean it.

      I'm just curious if it was indeed THE black mould which is so feared?

      And yes, I know ultimately the answer lies in making the phone call, well not myself which makes it slightly more difficult but I thought I'd ask the collective brain of OzB in the interim, and to make sure there wasn't any dos or donts going down that path.

      Clearly all the comments thus far have had much more engagement with insurance companies and claims in general, but for someone who hasn't, I genuinely do not know what is covered and what is not, our coverage document is.all of 2.pages and companies only ever ask the same 5 questions.

      Again, possibly wrongly so, but I took what was said by the trades as truthful because they deal with insurance companies or enter a greater variety of scenarios where insurance may have been consulted thus assumed they are probably the best informed. I'd hoped not for confirmation of such, but it's trending that way on opinion

    • Protractor on 31/07/2025 - 13:32
      +1

      The thread is a bit jumbled…

      Word.

  • Muppet Detector on 31/07/2025 - 12:33
    +1

    I can't actually work out what input you want apart from will a bathroom need to be renovated eventually.

    I'd say yes and that an insurer would consider what I think that you're describing as maintenance and thus up to you to fix.

    Let's say you submit an insurance claim about whatever problem you think you have, what's the worst that could happen?

    The only thing that I know for sure is that you need to stay on top of water problems. Prevent them when you can, but fix them up as soon as you become aware of them because it's not likely that they'll just go away and stop causing damage.

    • parad0x on 31/07/2025 - 13:17

      Thank you. Genuinely appreciate the dealing with the points directly regardless of what surrounds.

      It provides clarity, and concern (like what else am I not doing that could easily consume my annual intake?!). Eg. I know at some point in time that the tree out the front will rupture/crack/displace water/sewer/slab/foundations/gas, but there's no course of action to prevent it. It just seems counter-intuitive to me that the obvious problem ahead I can identify will become insurance, but the little one I knew nothing about and assumed a level protection would exist (but didn't until not too long after the build was done I guess).

    • Protractor on 31/07/2025 - 13:31

      Yep, once it starts to corrode the reo in the concrete slab, things go pear shaped real quick.

  • joka on 31/07/2025 - 13:16
    +1

    and this is why premiums go up for everyone

    • parad0x on 31/07/2025 - 13:18

      So it's covered then? Thanks

      • ihbh on 31/07/2025 - 16:40

        joka means that it'll take the insurer's staff an extra minute to say f*** no. But it all adds up.

  • gonpleursb on 31/07/2025 - 15:29

    mate had a leak from 2nd floor bathroom to 1st floor living room, insurance denied claim. Got a tradie to have a look and repair it, found out waterproofing material was missing for a fairly new build, Apparently. 7 year structural period warranty for new builds passed. no idea how certification was signed off and no one seemed to be contactable to find out more info. Expensive fix

  • ihbh on 31/07/2025 - 16:38
    +1

    How about you delete this post? Have a good night's sleep. Then tomorrow write something a 5 year old can understand. If you can't do that, try prompting AI until you're happy with it.

  • brendanm on 31/07/2025 - 16:52

    Insurance is for accidents, not lack of maintenance. From what I can tell from this rambling post, this is purely lack of maintenance.

  • elgrande on 31/07/2025 - 17:36

    Leak = no
    Burst = yes

  • AndyC1 on 31/07/2025 - 18:59

    So in summary the post is way to hard to understand why OP is getting a reno company to do an insurance claim.

    • Stealtho on 02/08/2025 - 12:49

      tyre kicking

      • AndyC1 on 02/08/2025 - 13:21

        Read the original post.

        • Stealtho on 02/08/2025 - 14:32

          you read it

          • AndyC1 on 02/08/2025 - 17:07

            @Stealtho: If you had read OP's original post in full then you would be wiser.

  • 82norm on 01/08/2025 - 08:55
    +2

    VCDU….. A new acronym is born…Very Confusing Didn’t Understand.

  • SlickMick on 01/08/2025 - 09:28

    We've been having trouble with insurance companies not covering the repaid of damage from leaking pipes. One they said it was a slow leak and should have been fixed before the damage got so bad (but didn't know there was a problem until saw the wall damaged in next room.) The next one would cover the cutting concrete to get to the damaged pipe, nor the replacement of damaged pipe, nor the retiling except immediately over the damage, not where the plumber had to find where the problem is.

    I think insurance is risk transfer for total writeoffs, might as well max the excess coz you'll never successfully claim.
    Though I do know someone who paid for the best insurance then claimed every little thing (so maybe my problem is trying to get budget insurance).

  • Noblejoker on 01/08/2025 - 11:23

    I am in insurance so take this how you will

    No harm in making a claim - if they say no what have you lost - you are paying for the service of them helping you if they can

    It is hard to follow the description of the damage but it all sounds like maintenance / normal wear and tear.
    If water proofing has failed, it is likely due to age and wear.

    The wear and tear is not claimable - but in some cases resultant damage is claimable - usually from a single event

    Example
    Your roof gets rusty over time and eventually a storm leaks through and damages the ceiling.
    The roof is not claimable (wear and tear) but the sudden leak to the ceiling might be if the wear and tear was not obvious or a known issue
    In your case it seems all the damage is maintenance or at least the result of long-term exposure to moisture, not a single event

    When insured damage is repaired, the repairs will be done to code.
    In this case if the damage was a claim then yes they likely would repair the bathroom and include waterproofing to the current code

    HTH

  • rocmelon on 01/08/2025 - 11:32

    I had a leak in the 1st floor shower I could not trace it was damaging the ceiling below.
    After a couple of years I called the insurance AAMI and they send a tradie to try and find the leak.
    In about 1/2 hour he did find it by squirting a coloured liquid. it was in the shower corner where the pipe had a pin hole.
    They did not cover the damage but I ended up re building the shower from scratch.

    from google :AAMI Home Building and Home Contents Insurance can cover loss or damage caused by certain instances of liquid escaping.

  • Stealtho on 02/08/2025 - 12:45

    No insurance company will cover waterproof failure.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join