Insurance
Bathroom Reinstatement
A leak has wrecked the bathroom and a claim is open. You need a written cause-of-leak report, an itemised schedule your insurer or assessor can read, and one plumber who puts the room back. Andover, Marlborough and Hungerford.
What a Claim Job Needs
Six pieces, each priced on its own. Every figure is the same one the rest of this site quotes; there is no insurance rate.
Cause-of-Leak Report and Photos
A written report that says in one line what failed and why, with photographs of the damage, the failed part and the moisture readings taken on the day. It is laid out the way a claims handler or loss adjuster reads one, so it does not come back with questions. Sent to you as a PDF to forward to your insurer.
What's Included:
- Cause of loss in one plain sentence
- Photos of the damage, the failed part and the readings
- What was isolated and what was left running
- Repair of the leak itself quoted on a separate line
- Claim number and insurer named on the report
- PDF the same day as the visit
Stop the Leak and Make Safe
Water through a ceiling or a bathroom floor that is lifting. The first visit isolates the supply, drains what needs draining, and leaves you with a bathroom that is safe to use or clearly shut off, with photos taken before anything is touched so the claim is not weakened by the repair.
What's Included:
- Supply isolated and the failed part identified
- Photos before and after making safe
- Temporary repair where that is the right call
- Water and heating left running wherever they can be
- Written note of what was found for your insurer
Itemised Schedule of Works
The quote the insurer or assessor is actually asked to agree. Every line priced on its own: strip-out, drying, first fix, boarding and tanking, tiling, sanitaryware, second fix, making good. Reinstatement sits in one column and anything you choose to upgrade sits in another, so there is no argument later about who is paying for what.
What's Included:
- Reinstatement and upgrades split into separate columns
- Like-for-like specification written down
- Pipe or seal repair on its own line
- VAT shown clearly, every figure ex VAT first
- Payment stages agreed before anything starts
Strip-Out and Dry-Down
Saturated plasterboard, swollen floor, a vanity that has drunk a week of drips. The wet zone comes out, the floor and studs are opened to dry, and the room is left clean and ventilated. If your insurer sends drying equipment this is the visit that makes room for it; if not, the schedule says how long the structure needs before it can be closed up again.
What's Included:
- Failed boarding, tiles and fittings out and bagged
- Floor and wall opened where the moisture reading says to
- Supplies capped off and labelled
- Readings taken again before anything is closed in
- Waste removed, room left clean
Like-for-Like Reinstatement
Putting back what was there, properly. A wet-zone reinstatement (shower area, panels or tiles and the fittings in it) starts at £1,800 + VAT. A whole bathroom that has to come out and go back, with us supplying everything, starts at £8,200 + VAT. The real figure is fixed in writing after the survey and it is the same whoever is paying.
What's Included:
- Matching specification unless you choose otherwise
- Tile backer board and tanking in every wet zone
- Our tiler for walls and floors, trims and silicone included
- Sanitaryware, shower and taps connected and tested
- 12-month workmanship guarantee
Upgrades Beyond the Claim
A claim puts the bathroom back as it was. Plenty of people would rather have the bath out and a walk-in shower in while the room is already stripped. That is priced on the same schedule as a clearly marked extra, you pay the difference, and the whole room is done once rather than twice.
What's Included:
- Bath to walk-in shower while the room is open
- Better shower, screen or vanity than the one that failed
- Towel radiator where there was none
- Marked as your cost, never mixed into the claim
- One programme, one set of trades, one finish date
How a Claim Job Runs
Who does what, in the order it happens. The paperwork comes before the tools every time, because a refit that starts before the insurer has agreed the schedule is a refit you may end up paying for yourself.
Stop the water
You, then me
Turn the stopcock off and photograph everything before anyone touches it. The emergency water shut-off guide below walks through it. I isolate the failed part and make the room safe.
Open the claim
You and your insurer
Ring the insurer with the date, what happened and the photos. Ask the two questions: is the cause covered, and is trace and access covered. Get the claim number.
Report and schedule
Me
Survey, moisture readings, the written cause-of-leak report with photos, and an itemised schedule of works with reinstatement and upgrades in separate columns. Sent as PDFs.
Agreement
Insurer or loss adjuster
They agree the schedule, offer a cash settlement against it, or send their own contractor to quote. If a figure comes back too low, the itemised lines are what you argue with.
Deposit and dates
You and me
Payment stages agreed in writing before the first fitting day, the same as every bathroom I do. A claim does not change the terms.
Strip, dry, refit
Me and my tiler
Wet zone or whole room out, structure dried and read, then first fix, tanking, tiling, sanitaryware and second fix. Photographed at each stage for the file.
Settle
Insurer, you
Insurer pays the reinstatement, you pay the excess, the leak repair if excluded, and any upgrade you chose. Each is already a separate line, so nobody is surprised.
Expert Bathroom Reinstatement
Expert Bathroom Reinstatement by Will Gaze
Bathrooms are most of what I do, and after 22+ years in the trade I have taken out a good many that a leak had finished off. A claim job is the same work with more paperwork: the report has to say plainly what failed, the schedule has to be readable by someone who was not in the room, and the refit has to be the one I would do for a customer paying every penny themselves.
I am not on any insurer's panel and I will never call myself insurance approved. You choose your contractor and I give you the paperwork to make that choice easy to defend. WaterSafe and WRAS approved, G3 qualified for the unvented cylinder that often sits in the same airing cupboard, insured for £2M public liability, and 12 months on my work. Not Gas Safe: if the boiler got wet, that is a separate engineer and I will say so.
Where Claim Jobs Go Wrong
Five things worth knowing before the first phone call. None of them is advice on your policy; all of them are what I have seen on bathroom floors.
The pipe is often not covered
The damage the water did is usually insured. The joint, seal or valve that let it out often is not, and nor is anything that failed through wear. The repair goes on its own line so you can see exactly what that costs if it falls to you, and it is a plumbing repair rather than a bathroom price.
A cash settlement can come in low
An insurer pricing a reinstatement from a desk will sometimes offer less than a proper job costs. The itemised schedule exists for this moment: every line can be pointed at and defended. I do not start fitting on the strength of an offer that does not cover the schedule.
Mixing upgrades into the claim
Asking the insurer to pay for a walk-in shower when a bath was damaged is how claims get refused outright. Reinstatement and upgrades live in separate columns from the first visit, and you pay the difference openly.
Closing a wet wall too soon
Boarding and tiling over a stud that still reads wet grows mould behind a brand-new bathroom. The readings are taken again before anything is closed in, even if that costs a week. A reinstatement that has to be done twice is nobody's idea of a saving.
Who actually pays, and when
Insurers pay on their timetable, not mine. Payment stages are agreed in writing with you before work starts, the same as every bathroom, and the excess, any excluded repair and any upgrade are yours on the schedule from day one. No surprises on the last day.
Homeowners, Landlords and Assessors
Homeowners with a claim open
You want the bathroom back and the paperwork to be somebody else's problem. The report and schedule are written for your insurer; the refit is the one on the bathroom page, at the same prices.
Landlords and letting agents
A tenant has reported water coming through a ceiling. One visit to make safe and report, a schedule you can forward to the insurer and the owner, and dates fixed in writing so the tenant knows when they get their bathroom back.
Loss assessors needing a reinstatement contractor
If you act for policyholders around Andover, Marlborough, Hungerford, Pewsey or Tidworth and need a bathroom fitter who sends a readable schedule and turns up when booked, get in touch. £2M public liability, certificate on request.
Reinstatement Service Areas
One plumber working out of Wootton Rivers. A report visit is a morning anywhere below; a refit is booked as the days it needs once the structure reads dry.
Andover and Test Valley
Down the A338 and A342 from Wootton Rivers
- Andover (SP10, SP11)
- Upper Clatford and the Wallops
- Stockbridge and Chilbolton (SO20)
Marlborough and Pewsey Vale
Older houses, older pipework, and the bathrooms above them
- Marlborough and Ramsbury (SN8)
- Great Bedwyn and Burbage (SN8)
- Pewsey and Upavon (SN9)
- Tidworth and Ludgershall (SP9, SP11)
Hungerford and Lambourn Valley
The Kennet valley, over the Berkshire border
- Hungerford (RG17)
- Lambourn and Great Shefford
- Kintbury, Inkpen and Combe
- Chilton Foliat and Shalbourne
Booking a Claim Visit
A make-safe is an emergency slot, paid before dispatch. A report and survey visit is a morning. The refit is surveyed, scheduled and booked as the days it needs once the insurer has agreed and the structure reads dry. Same-day or next-working-day for most jobs; emergency slots subject to availability. You get a named date when Will confirms the booking.
Leak and Bathroom Guides
What to do in the first ten minutes, how a leak is traced before anything is lifted, and what a bathroom refit looks like week by week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does home insurance cover a bathroom wrecked by a leak?
Usually the damage, not the cause. Most buildings policies treat an escape of water as an insured event and pay to put right what the water did: the ceiling below, the floor, the boarding, the tiles that had to come off to get at it. The pipe, joint, seal or valve that actually failed is often excluded or covered only under a separate trace-and-access section, and wear and tear is excluded almost everywhere. That is why the leak repair sits on its own line in my schedule and why I will not tell you what your policy says. Read the wording, or ask your insurer the direct question: is the cause covered, and is trace and access covered?
Do I have to use the contractor my insurer sends?
In most cases no, but check. Many insurers offer their own network contractor and will also accept a quote from a contractor you choose, or make a cash settlement based on it. Some policies are written so the insurer manages the repair and you lose the right to pick. If yours lets you choose, my itemised schedule is written to be compared line for line with theirs. I am not on any insurer's panel and I do not describe myself as insurance approved, because no insurer has approved me and that phrase is used far too loosely.
Will you deal with the insurer or loss adjuster for me?
I will send the report, the photos and the schedule in the form they ask for, answer their technical questions, and meet the adjuster on site if a visit is arranged. What I will not do is negotiate the settlement or argue the policy on your behalf. That is either your job or a loss assessor's, and if a claim is large or going badly a loss assessor working for you, not the insurer, is worth talking to. I can give you the names of ones I have dealt with locally.
What if I want a better bathroom than the one that was damaged?
Then say so at the survey and it goes on the schedule as a separate, clearly marked upgrade column. The insurer pays for like-for-like reinstatement, you pay the difference, and the room is done once. The commonest version is taking the bath out and fitting a walk-in shower while the floor is already up. Mixing an upgrade into the claim figure is how claims get refused, so I keep the two apart on paper from the first visit.
How long does a bathroom reinstatement take after a leak?
The drying decides it, not the fitting. A wet zone that was caught early can be stripped, dried and refitted inside a week or two. A floor and walls that soaked for a month need to read dry on the meter before they are closed in, and that can mean drying equipment running for weeks before I start the refit. The refit itself is one to three days for a wet-zone reinstatement and two to three weeks for a whole room, with the dates fixed in writing once the readings say the structure is ready.
Important Booking Information
Our professional booking system ensures seamless service delivery from first contact to job completion
Your Call Gets Answered
In Your PA answers the landline in office hours, so somebody picks up when Will is under a sink. They take your details and pass them straight through. Will is the one who quotes the job and turns up to do it.
Arrival Windows
We provide time windows rather than exact times to ensure quality work on each job. We'll keep you updated with a more precise ETA.
ServiceM8 System
Our professional job management system provides SMS updates, online booking, and digital job records for a seamless experience.
What Goes Back, and Where It Comes From
Like-for-like means matching what was there, so the schedule names the make and model of what came out and what goes back. Sanitaryware is usually Roca or Ideal Standard through Plumbfix and Trade UK, both of which still make the ranges found in most bathrooms fitted in the last twenty years, which makes a true match possible rather than a near one.
If the original is discontinued, the schedule says so and names the nearest equivalent, so the insurer can see the substitution was forced and not an upgrade. You keep the manufacturer warranty on the fittings; the workmanship is mine.
See all the brands I work with
A Leak, a Claim and a Wrecked Bathroom?
One visit for the report and photos, an itemised schedule your insurer can read, and a written price for putting the room back before any work starts.