Home Muddy water from our private well has damaged some of our kitchen appliances.

Hi all

We are out the county and have a private well.

The problem is that over the past few weeks there have been a number of instances where the water has become very muddy - not sure why but checking into it.

My problem is that the muddy water has damaged two appliances: namely the dishwasher and the washing machine.

In the dishwasher it has damaged the water inlet switch.

I have had the repair guy out and he said that the switch cant even be got any more. So now we have a useless dishwasher - Is this something i can claim for under the insurance?

In the washing machine - it is the same thing. I have replaced the switch twice now but it still keeps breaking down. Again is this something that can be put through the insurance?

Please help

you can buy/ replace those two appliances for about €450, or less. is it worth a claim on your insurance when, depending on your policy, you'll probably lose the first €100 or more anyway, so you wont get all you pay out.

about 450 each - thats 900!! will i be able to claim that its the one incident?

there are great deals to be had in the applicances at the moment, need new fridge and last Friday I could have purchase a huge stainless steel fridge/freezer for €369 Galway City (only no room for it).

Shop around is my advice.

I know my own house insurance went up by a this this year, no claims etc so Id consider carefully claiming, plus my excess is €250.....

What 'insured peril' would be you be claiming under?

I can't find 'muddy water' in mine.

If the muddy water had come through a mains pipe, would you think of claiming on your own insurance, or would you have made a claim against whoever was responsible for the supply? I suspect that most people would have seen the water supplier as responsible.

Hi Ned,

I empathise with your problem and think that some town dwellers on mains water do not fully appreciate all the difficulties of rural living!

If I were you I would investigate fully the source of the mud/grit in the well water.

I know that the extended dry spell experienced earlier this year resulted in many wells running nearly dry. One symptom of this is grit/mud in the water.

I know of some individuals who's private well system froze up duning the cold weather in Dec/Jan/Feb they successfully claimed for repairs to their pump from their insurance.

I know of another individual on whose pumphouse a tree fell in a storm damaging the control equipment and the well head. Again she was able to claim repairs off her insurance.

I would advise you to check out the symptoms and cause of the poor water quality and check the T&C's of your policy to see if any neccessary repairs are covered.

Incidently, if you are away from public water or group shcemes and your house is over 7 years old and your water is seriously deficient in terms of quantity or quality then you may be eligable for a grant of up to €2,000 from your local authority to upgrade the well.

Ned_ie said:

about 450 each - thats 900!! will i be able to claim that its the one incident?

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no €450 for both try power city or D I D

trees falling is covered under my policy, as is frost.

muddy water is not

Ravima said:

What 'insured peril' would be you be claiming under?

I can't find 'muddy water' in mine.

Click to expand...

On the basis of the OP's comments, I do not believe that the claim will fall for consideration of payment under any policy currently on the market.

However, whereas a household policy does not cover "muddy water", many policyholders have purchased Accidental Damage cover and in the event that the damage by the muddy water was a single "one off" incident, rather than an ongoing process, then, depending upon the exclusions pertaining to the AD cover, there may be a compelling argument that the loss would be covered.