Compression fitting blown in the cold weather

[seniorthumb]

Hi, I fitted a ball-a-fix valve on the cold feed to the cold water storage tank in October 2011. Lagged all pipes but did not cover the valve. All has been fine - no leaks or problems. House has been empty ever since with heating off. Had a call last week (following temperatures as low as -10 ) from the owner - house flooded, fire brigade forced entry and turned off water. Owner is asking for details of my public liability insurance, I ask him why not use your own, he says something about the property being unoccupied for over 30 days so I assume this invalidates his insurance (?). Should I admit liability? Would my insurance even cover this if it is down to freezing conditions?
Would appreciate your comments.
Thanks.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

its not your problem if the house was un occupied then he should have drained the system down or left the heating on

 

[Rickster123]

Not a chance that your insurance company would pay out on that. It's the home owners responsibility. He's left the heat off at temps of -10?
As my dad once told me, NEVER admit anything!

 

[dancinplumba]

:iagree: with gasman itis owners responsibility

 

[kirkgas]

i crashed my car last night cause i was drunk, can i claim your van insurance as i dont want to tell mine i was drunk in case they dont pay out

 

[ADM360]

I can't see how it is your fault!!
Every one knows what happens when winter comes and pipes freeze!! Would he be asking for your details if it had been a pipe that split and not a joint!!
It was not the fitting or the installation that failed, it was his negligence to properly maintain his house!
I have a customer that was away for the entire christmas, new year and most of Jan, they drained down the house and turned off all water and asked if they could leave my details with next door incase of a problem!! This is what conciensious home owners do!! others wing it and hope nothing untoward happens!!
I belive there is a clause in house insurance that says about long periods of unoccupancy, that he did not read therfore he is looking for a scape goat to pay for his mistake. I also think that he would need to prove that your work was substandard or the fitting was defective, which as it has been fine for 3 months!!

 

[johnnyplumb]

i crashed my car last night cause i was drunk, can i claim your van insurance as i dont want to tell mine i was drunk in case they dont pay out

tell them the truth kirk, you were drowning your sorrows because of all the problems at ibrox, they'll understand & let you off. lol

 

[secret squirrel]

Tell them to Kiss your proverbial......muppets

 

[Roger Welton]

They could get cover for an empty house, just they would have had to pay extra for it and thought they risk it, and have now been caught out.

Chancers, not your fault no liability.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

tell them to whistle.

 

[warrington]

Probably if he used the heating ,he would want the gas money from you ,to protect your pipe work not to burst so you don't have to use your insurance! I can't find words to say really, he was tight , and now he has to pay for his mistake.

 

[Best]

What a joke! Tell owner to turn water off, even if no one in the house for a day or two. Even if you had have insulated the valve, the mains would freeze in an unheated house in those temperatures. On the screw type valves, I armaflex over them, but cut a little hole in the insulation for the screw. Then I mark the position with some red tape. Stopcocks etc, I cut bits armaflex & tape them over it, but not really going to stop freezing if the place turns into a freezer!!

 

[MattWeth]

He's having a laugh - there's no way this is your fault / should come off your insurance.

People mostly have completely the wrong idea about insulation and think it somehow magically 'keeps pipes warm' - it doesn't, it just slows down freezing - there's no way on earth that any amount of insulation would protect against a month of cold / freezing temperatures. He should have either drained down or left the building heated.

Under normal circumstances this should come off his insurance but as with most policies, there's a '30 day unoccupied' stipulation - tough luck for him - he should have read his policy or made provision for leaving his house empty over winter.

There's no specific stipulation in the water regs about insulating valves - they just state that 'water fittings shall be constructed so as to inhibit potential damage by freezing'. They also state that service and drain valves 'shall be accessible'. Construction to inhibit damage by freezing does not just mean insulation - it also means provision of heat into the space that the fitting resides (i.e. leaving the loft insulation out beneath the CWSC) and provision for drain down when the building is unoccupied (which you provided with the ball valve on the cold feed). In this case as he was leaving the building for a month over winter, he should have either left heat on or drained - his home is his responsibility.

 

[kirkgas]

tell them the truth kirk, you were drowning your sorrows because of all the problems at ibrox, they'll understand & let you off. lol

aye thas the scottish thing to do , boot a man when he's down, haha we will be back stronger asnd better than before, and thanks very much to the British tax payer for funding my club for the last 10yrs, ok we MIGHT not win the league this year but as a famous glasgow guy says "i will tell you this boy, we will be back",

 

[WaterTight]

Tell them to Kiss your proverbial......muppets

I agree. Tell them to kiss your proverbial muppets.

 

[Guest123]

aye thas the scottish thing to do , boot a man when he's down, haha we will be back stronger asnd better than before, and thanks very much to the British tax payer for funding my club for the last 10yrs, ok we MIGHT not win the league this year but as a famous glasgow guy says "i will tell you this boy, we will be back",

Wonder if God Save the Queen will still be sung at Ibrox after her Revenue and Customs helped Rangers to go bust?

 

[secret squirrel]

Wonder if God Save the Queen will still be sung at Ibrox after her Revenue and Customs helped Rangers to go bust?

HMRC has got to get as much as it can from you jocks while it has the chance......

REMEMBER though its English oil and gas.............

 

[bcp]

Just a general point for everyone to take note of, in virtually all insurance small print (irrespective of type - so it applies to, for example, motor, PLI, home etc) it is a stipulation that the policyholder does not admit liability, even if he she or they are or think they are at fault. Admitting liability will usually nullify your cover. In these days of small recording devices (phones etc) be very careful.
By the way, I am not advocating that you walk away from your responsibilities or don't do a job properly, I'm just offering some general advice.

 

[REDSAW]

negligence by the house owner subjecting water supplies to sub zero temps.
not what it was designed to do. better to tell them to think quickly with their insurers, ie, went out for the weekend and pipe burst or they will have to cover the damage themselves. end of.imo.

 

[johnnyplumb]

aye thas the scottish thing to do , boot a man when he's down, haha we will be back stronger asnd better than before, and thanks very much to the British tax payer for funding my club for the last 10yrs, ok we MIGHT not win the league this year but as a famous glasgow guy says "i will tell you this boy, we will be back",

The taxman will know let you off that easily, they'll be nothing left when there finished, they'll take the stadium, the training ground & they'll try to sell some of the players [not that the players are worth much though]
i've know doubt they'll be back under another name though. The first game of next seasons fixture list 2012-2013 Albion rovers v Govan dodgers hahaha

ps, you can always watch old rangers games on the 'HISTORY CHANNEL' hahaha

 

[johnnyplumb]

Wonder if God Save the Queen will still be sung at Ibrox after her Revenue and Customs helped Rangers to go bust?

new dvd being released THE RANGERS STORY 1872-2012 SASHES TO ASHES. lol

 

[seniorthumb]

Thanks to everyone who has commented so far. I am due to meet with the owner and loss adjuster at the property tomorrow morning and I am feeling fairly confident as a result of all the support on here. I will let you know the outcome.

 

[wiggers]

The amount of people that dont fully understand the perils of not switching your stoptap off when your away for a period of time in any weather amazes me. Most of the properties i sevice have one by front door and still decide not to switch off.
Last christmas temp was -9 and i got an emergency call and on arrival tnt had a waterfall from her front door which a neighbour spotted i opened door and was greeted by water cascading down from all floors. Stoptap was at front door!! done an inspection in loft and found pipework to cistern in loft had split. House was destroyed two ceilings had collapsed water coming from all electrical sockets all possestions gone tnt in tears and guess wot NO insurance!! for the sake of bending down for 10 sec switching off tap before leaving for periods of time, all could had been avoided.