Plumbing and Drainage Cover for Flats

You have entered into a contract of insurance with Inter Partner Assistance SA and a separate contract with HomeServe to arrange and administer the policy. This document represents the entire agreements of the parties on the matters in question. This contract is governed by Scottish Law governed by the Scottish
Court. However the parties to the contract are allowed a choice of law, applicable to where the customer is resident.

Please read this document carefully, we do not wish you to discover after an incident has occurred that you are not insured. If you have any queries, please call HomeServe on 0800 783 0951.

DEFINITIONS RELATING TO THE INSURANCE AND ADMINISTRATION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. You/your: the permanent occupier of the property as recorded on the Application Form and your spouse, children, parents and other relatives who normally reside with you at your property.
2. Inter Partner Assistance SA/we/us/our: Inter Partner Assistance SA, The Quadrangle, 106–118 Station Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1PR.
3. HomeServe: HomeServe Membership Ltd, Cable Drive, Walsall, WS2 7BN.
4. Flat/Property: your principal permanent place of residence (comprising garden, private dwelling, garage and outbuildings, built of brick, stone or concrete and roofed with slate, metal, concrete, asbestos or asphalt, used for domestic purposes, all situated at the address, but excluding mobile homes, bedsits, properties in multiple occupation and commercial premises.
5. Flat complex: the building and grounds in which your Property is situated.
6. Internal plumbing and drainage services: the domestic sanitary fittings, water supply, storage and drainage systems for which you have responsibility within the limits of the buildings of your property.
7. Communal drains and water supply pipe: the drainage pipes and water supply pipe within the boundary of the flat complex, but outside the limits of any building.
8. Emergency: sudden and unforeseen damage to the internal plumbing and drainage services or communal external drainage piping or water supply pipe which immediately:
   1. exposes you to a risk to your health; or
   2. creates a risk of loss of or damage to the flat and any of your belongings forming part of or normally contained within the flat; or
   3. makes the buildings uninhabitable.
9. Uncontrollable emergency: an internal plumbing or drainage emergency where you are unable to temporarily stop the incident from causing further immediate damage within the home (i.e. by turning the water off, containing the leak or not using the affected facilities).
10. Emergency repairs: repair work by a plumbing or drainage engineer authorised by Inter Partner Assistance SA to identify and/or eliminate the emergency.
11. Temporary reinstatement: the back–filling of any necessary excavation as a result of a claim on the communal underground drains to leave the ground level. We will not reinstate or arrange for the reinstatement of hard or soft landscaping, such as drives, pathways, walls, flower beds or lawns.
12. Permanent reinstatement: repairs and/or work required to put right the damage caused by any necessary excavations as a result of a water supply pipe claim. This includes, back filling and reinstatement of tarmac, concrete, block paving and lawns. If the reinstatement requires specialist materials and/or skills we will alternatively and at our option, reimburse you up to £500 towards your reinstatement costs. It should be noted that to allow for any settlement of the ground following any necessary excavations that these works may not be effected immediately.

COST OF COVER

1. The cost of cover is the total amount you pay as detailed in your policy documentation, which consists of the Arrangement and Administration Fee of £5.00 and the premium. The Arrangement and Administration Fee is the amount you pay for arranging and administering the cover, and the premium is the amount you pay for the insurance contract. These arrangements do not affect the amount that you pay for your cover or the service that you receive. References to "Flats Plumbing and Drainage Cover" and "Cover" in all documents include services within both contracts.
2. Your policy premium will be reviewed upon renewal. Any claims made will also be considered within the review. Any amendments to the policy premium will be confirmed on your policy summary approximately 28 days before the expiry of your cover.

ADMINISTRATION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This cover is arranged and administered for you by HomeServe Membership Ltd, Cable Drive, Walsall, WS2 7BN, registered in England no. 2770612.

1. HomeServe will arrange and administer your insurance cover and agree service standards for the delivery of the cover provided by the insurance. If the insurance does not provide the cover you need, you should return your Policy Summary to HomeServe at the FREEPOST address shown below (see number 6) within 28 days of the policy start date and your premium will be refunded in full, provided no claim has been made. Please note that your statutory cancellation rights, which run for 14 days (and begin at the end of the waiting period if applicable – see 'What is not covered?' point 17), are included within this 28 day period.
2. The minimum period for which you may hold this policy is one year. HomeServe will arrange for collection of policy premiums in accordance with your instructions. If you fail to make a payment on the due date, your policy will be suspended immediately and during this period you will not be covered. HomeServe will notify you in writing within 5 working days if you fail to make a payment. If you do not pay in full within 30 days of the due date, your policy will be cancelled. Any outstanding payments will be requested and upon receipt of cleared funds your cover will restart.
3. HomeServe reserve the right to cancel this policy by giving you at least 7 days notice at your last known address. If HomeServe cancel the policy, HomeServe will refund your premium for the remainder of the current policy period shown on your Policy Summary, unless a claim has been made.
4. HomeServe will contact you in writing before your policy expires to arrange renewal of your policy. HomeServe also reserve the right to refuse renewal of any individual HomeServe policy.
5. You are responsible for informing HomeServe of a change of your address so that cover can be transferred to your new flat. Please send this information to HomeServe at the FREEPOST address shown below (see number 6).
6. If you have a complaint relating to an administrative matter, please write to Freepost RLYC–LXAL–GEEH, Customer Relations Department, HomeServe, Walsall, WS2 7BN. In the unlikely event that you are not satisfied with the response from HomeServe, you can ask us for details of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

INSURANCE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The insurance is underwritten by Inter Partner Assistance SA who are a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Assistance SA and part of the worldwide AXA Group. Their address is: Inter Partner Assistance SA, The Quadrangle, 106 – 118 Station Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1PR. United Kingdom office, registered no. FC008998.

Inter Partner Assistance SA is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) here in the UK and authorised by the Commission Bancaire Financière et des Assurances' CBFA in Belgium (their regulatory arm).

WHAT IS COVERED?

Section A – Internal plumbing and drainage emergency

1. If you suffer an emergency relating to your internal plumbing and drainage services at the address on your terms and conditions, you should call us on the Emergency Hotline number on your Policy Summary. We will then:
   1. advise you of how to protect yourself and the flat immediately while awaiting assistance;
   2. organise and pay up to £2,000 (including VAT) on your behalf for an approved plumbing and drainage engineer to carry out the emergency repairs that are immediately necessary to:
      1. protect you against risk to health;
      2. make the buildings of the flat safe and habitable and, if necessary, secure the flat and belongings against further resulting damage.

2. Section B – Communal drains and water supply pipe

3. If you suffer a leakage or blockage in the communal drains within the boundary of your flat complex, you should call us on the Emergency Hotline number on your Policy Summary. We will then organise and pay up to £4,000 (including VAT) for an approved engineer to unblock or repair or replace the damaged section of drain in order for us to resolve the immediate emergency including temporary reinstatement
   to leave the drain running clear.
4. If you suffer a leakage or blockage in the underground water supply pipe within the boundary of your flat complex, or your internal stop tap won’t turn on or off you should call us on the Emergency Hotline number on your Policy Summary. We will then organise and pay up to £3,000 (including VAT) for an approved specialist engineer to locate the leak, repair or replace the damaged section of water supply pipe including permanent reinstatement. We will automatically replace sections of supply pipe up to a total of 20 metres unless a repair would be just as effective. In the event the policy limit is reached (i.e. £3,000) whilst locating the leak, You are responsible for agreeing and settling any costs above the limits of cover directly with the plumbing or drainage engineer; including permanent reinstatement.
5. Our liability to pay for such repairs applies: (a) to drains and water supply pipes between the boundary of the flat complex and the point at which the pipes enter your flat (b) to water supply pipes on private land to which you have been granted the legal right of access between your property boundary and the
   boundary of the private land. Your water company is usually responsible for the water pipes under the street and for drains that are either outside the boundary of the flat complex or for those pipes that collect sewerage from more than one property/flat complex (these may be within the boundary of your property/ flat complex).
6. Claims must be made via our 24 hour Emergency Hotline by you or a person calling on your behalf at the time of the emergency. We regret that we will not cover the costs of work carried out by contractors not authorised by us in advance.
7. For shared drainage and water supply pipe facilities, our liability is limited to your share (rateable proportion) of the costs.
8. In order for us to verify your cover you must quote your policy number when calling to make a claim and produce your Policy Summary if requested.
9. We operate a 'fair play' policy, which limits the number of claims you can make in any one policy year to 4. There can be a maximum of 2 claims under Section A and 2 claims under Section B of the policy within the period of insurance stated on your Policy Summary.
10. In the event that your home is uninhabitable for 48 hours or more as a result of an internal plumbing and drainage emergency or communal drainage emergency covered under Section A or B and no alternative accommodation is available, we will reimburse hotel costs of up to £500 (including VAT).
    In the event that you are completely without water due to a problem with your internal or external water supply pipe under section A or B, and we are unable to perform a same day repair/replacement, we will reimburse you for hotel accommodation only costs of up to £500 (including VAT).
11. Drains/sewers and water supply pipes within and under your home and soil stacks on your property are not covered under Section B, they are only covered if they are an emergency under Section A.
12. The cover limits stated in both Sections include the cost of call–out, labour, materials and VAT. They do not include payment for the restoration of any fixtures or fittings (e.g. fitted units, special floor coverings such as wood block or ceramic tiles etc.) removed in the process of conducting the emergency repair.
13. All permanent repairs are guaranteed for as long as you choose to remain a plumbing customer. A permanent repair is only carried out if it's as cost effective as an emergency repair.
14. In the event of an internal plumbing or drainage emergency, covered under Sections A or B, we will carry out an emergency repair. The emergency repair will be carried out by a plumbing or drainage engineer and will be authorised by Inter Partner Assistance SA, so as to alleviate the immediate emergency. We will not cover any other repair work that may be required in addition to the emergency repair, such as: repairs required to avoid the problem re–occurring; or to ensure your plumbing and drainage system is restored to an adequate functional standard for ongoing use; or any normal day–to–day maintenance work. For example, a blocked drain will be left running clear so as to alleviate the immediate emergency but if the drain is required to be re–aligned to avoid the problem re–occurring, this is not
    covered; a leaking water tank will be drained to alleviate the emergency of water escaping through the home but the leaking tank will not be replaced.
15. The total amount we will pay under more than one section of this policy, arising from any one event is £4,000 including VAT. This excludes any hotel accommodation payments.
16. In the event of an uncontrollable emergency within your home, HomeServe guarantee the arrival of a plumbing or drainage engineer within 2 hours. If we fail to achieve this HomeServe will refund your policy premium in full. If you feel that this applies to a claim you have made under this policy you should write to Freepost RLYC–LXAL–GEEH, Customer Relations Department, HomeServe, Walsall, WS2 7BN.

WHAT IS NOT COVERED?

17. Inter Partner Assistance SA provides the services and benefits described in these terms and conditions for the period of insurance shown on the enclosed Policy Summary. But there are conditions and exclusions which limit your cover. Please read them carefully to ensure this policy meets your needs.
18. To prevent claims on pre–existing problems (and therefore reduce premiums) a 14 day waiting period when new customers cannot make a claim, applies in the first year of your policy. The date from which you are able to make a claim is shown on your Policy Summary under 'Period of Insurance'. Providing you renew before the expiry of your policy no waiting period applies after your first year's cover.

EXCLUSIONS

19. These events are excluded from the insurance:
    1. any hot or cold water tap which requires re–washering;
    2. temporarily frozen pipes which have not resulted in confirmed damage;
    3. incidents related to external guttering, rainwater downpipes, rainwater drains and soakaways;
    4. incidents related to water flowing externally out of any overflow pipes;
    5. any event arising from circumstances known to you before the insurance began;
    6. loss or damage arising as a result of disconnection from or interruption to the mains services;
    7. a leaking central heating radiator, where you are able to turn off the radiator and stop the leak;
    8. any problems associated with shower units, controls, outlet or shower head.
20. We are not liable for:
    1. any item not forming part of the internal plumbing or drainage services and/or the underground external drains or water supply pipe;
    2. any fixtures including lead piping where replacement is only necessary as a result of legislation or health and safety guidelines, or to meet current best practice;
    3. systems which have not been installed, serviced or maintained in accordance with established practice or
       manufacturer's instructions;
    4. swimming pools or decorative features including ponds, fountains and any associated pipes, valves or pumps;
    5. cesspits, septic tanks and any outflow pipes;
    6. vacuum drainage systems;
    7. any costs relating to replacement of water tanks, radiators, cylinders, sanitary ware (e.g. basins and toilet bowls).
    8. any costs relating to repair or replacement of pumps including any associated electrics or valves, water softeners, waste disposal units, macerators or any central heating component (e.g. motorised valves, boiler parts etc.)
    9. drain clearance where you have previously been advised of the need to install access points (e.g. rodding eye, manhole etc.) at your cost;
    10. any defect, damage or breakdown caused by malicious or wilful action, negligence, misuse, or third party interference including any attempted repair or modification to the internal plumbing or drainage services, and/or underground external drains or water supply pipe which does not comply with recognised industry standards;
    11. any loss in the event of damage occurring where the property has remained unoccupied for 60 or more consecutive days;
    12. any liability for consequential loss whether as a result of a defect or malfunction of the internal plumbing or drainage services, and/or underground external drains or water supply pipe, or arising from any goods, services, arrangements or advice provided by us or any agents acting on our behalf, unless through our or their negligence;
    13. costs incurred where you have been informed of the need to do permanent repairs to avoid emergencies;
    14. any investigative work (such as CCTV), where the immediate emergency has been resolved;
    15. costs exceeding your fair share (rateable proportion) for any work undertaken on the shared underground water supply outside the boundary of your property. This also applies whereby your neighbour does not consent to repairs being completed by our approved contractors;
    16. any part of the internal plumbing or drainage services or underground external drains or water supply pipe which is too difficult to access safely, e.g. where asbestos is present;
    17. any costs above the limits of cover. You are responsible for agreeing and settling these costs directly with the plumbing or drainage engineer;
    18. any loss arising from subsidence, heave of the site or landslip caused by:
        1. bedding down of new structures;
        2. demolition or structural repairs or alterations to the property;
        3. faulty workmanship or the use of defective materials;
        4. river or coastal erosion.
    19. any loss or damage arising as a consequence of:
        1. war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, terrorism, hostilities (whether war is declared or not), civil war,
           rebellion, revolution, insurrection, coup, riot or civil disturbance;
        2. ionising radiation or contamination by radioactivity from any nuclear fuel or from any nuclear waste from
           combustion of nuclear fuel, the radioactive toxic explosive or other hazardous properties of any explosive nuclear assembly or its nuclear component.
    20. this insurance does not cover you for any loss, injury, damage or legal liability arising directly or indirectly from the failure or inability of any equipment to correctly recognise or interpret data representing the Year 2000, or any other date, in such a way that it does not work properly at all.

INTER PARTNER ASSISTANCE SA – A PROMISE OF SERVICE

21. We wish to provide you with a high standard of service. Very occasionally we receive complaints which we investigate at once, and every effort is made to resolve them to your satisfaction. If you have a complaint please write to Freepost RLYC–LXAL–GEEH, Customer Relations Department, HomeServe, Walsall, WS2 7BN. If your complaint relates to the service you experienced as a result of a claim, and you feel that
    the matter has not been resolved satisfactorily, you may escalate your complaint to the General Manager of Inter Partner Assistance SA, The Quadrangle, 106–118 Station Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1PR. In the unlikely event that you are not satisfied with the response from Inter Partner Assistance SA, you can ask us for details of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

GENERAL CONDITIONS

22. In the event that any claim under this policy is found to be covered by any other insurance or maintenance contract, we will not pay more than our fair share (rateable proportion) of any claim.
23. This insurance does not cover normal day to day maintenance of the internal plumbing and drainage services, or the underground external drains or water supply pipe at your property for which you are responsible, for example the descaling or desludging of central heating systems/pipes. Nor
    does it pay for replacing items relating to the internal plumbing and drainage services or communal drains that wear out over a period of time.
24. You must co–operate with us in obtaining reimbursement of any costs we incur under the terms of this cover, which may have been caused by the action of a third party against whom you have a legal right of action.
25. Details of you, your insurance cover and claims will be held by us for underwriting, processing, claims handling and fraud prevention subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998.