Trace and access for insurance claims

Trace-and-access work covered under your home insurance: the minimally-invasive "cut, find, fix" repair that locates a hidden leak, fixes it, and reinstates the wall, ceiling or floor we opened. We bill the insurer direct on covered claims.

Trace-and-access cover is a standard inclusion on most UK home insurance policies, typically £2,500 to £10,000 per claim. It pays for the work needed to locate a hidden leak and put the property back together once the leak is fixed. 247 Rapid Response runs the whole job end to end so you don't have to coordinate a surveyor, a plumber, a plasterer, and a decorator separately.

How a trace-and-access job runs

1. Survey: insurance-grade leak detection (thermal, acoustic, tracer gas, UV dye) to pinpoint the leak before any opening up. Written report follows within two working days for the insurer's file.
2. Quote to insurer: scope of works submitted in claims-handler format, with the survey report and photographic evidence packaged for the loss adjuster.
3. Cut, find, fix: minimum-disturbance access cut (typically a 200 mm × 200 mm panel through plasterboard, or a single floorboard lift), pipe section replaced or re-soldered, pressure-tested with a manometer.
4. Reinstate: replaster, repaint, refit the floorboards, replace the carpet section we lifted. Where the policy includes drying and dehumidification, we run that on the same job.
5. Sign-off: photographic before-and-after evidence emailed to the insurer; final invoice billed direct.

What we typically find

Hidden pinhole leaks in copper supply pipework behind walls (most common in 1960s to 1980s flats with original first-fit pipework); failed solder joints on heating return runs under suspended timber floors; cracked shower-tray traps inside boxed-in plumbing; failed waste-pipe rubber seals in concealed kitchen-island runs; cold-water-storage-tank overflow weeping at the connection collar.

Pricing

On a covered insurance claim, you pay your policy excess and nothing else. 247 Rapid Response bills the insurer direct for survey, repair, and reinstatement. Where any element of the work falls outside the policy (for example, you ask us to upgrade a bathroom finish at the same time), we quote that separately so you can decide before we proceed. Survey-only (no repair) is priced per our published rate card (see full pricing), redeemable against trace-and-access work commissioned on the same visit.

When to call

• You've just claimed and the insurer has asked for a survey before authorising work.
• A separate contractor cut a hole and didn't find the leak; you need a forensic re-survey.
• You want one team handling survey, repair and reinstatement without coordination overhead.
• Your downstairs neighbour is claiming against you and you need evidenced location of the source.

Call 020 8050 5306, or book online. Mention "trace and access" so we tag the booking for insurance-grade reporting from the outset.