Générale des eaux, Doméo insurance against water leaks between the meter and the house.

[JohnRoss]

I imagine quite a few folk have had a letter from Générale des eaux/Doméo offering for 68,28 Euros/year to cover the cost of finding a leak, repairing a leak and the cost of water lost in pipes between the house and the water meter. I know this subject has come up before but having looked at our installation I have come to the conclusion that I would not want to tackle this problem should it occur, digging trenches just not on as getting too old and creaky. There is a stop valve before the meter at the edge of the property but I don't have a key and even if I did I don't know how this would sit with the water board if I fiddled with it. The valve on the input to the meter seems to be frozen and I don't want to risk breaking it to see if it turns the water off. This assumes that one would be aware of the leak soon after it started and from what I have read of other folk's experiences one might not until you get a big bill for water lost.

So have you heard of this company and is it worth the price asked for peace of mind. I have done a quick search of the web and found two French forums asking much the same question and, of course, folk who think that these firms are the spawn of the devil as you get with any organisation that you care to research! A criticism seen more than once was that they did not accept liability where the only evidence was a much higher than normal meter reading. In their blurb they do say that following a call to their call centre someone will arrive within 2 hours, cost of finding the leak covered, likewise repairs including materials up to 3 060 Euros and up to 3 000 Euros for water lost. Don't know how they could assess this second one, based on normal consumption I suppose. One year guarantee on repairs and cover for two emergencies a year. Bills settled by them direct and nothing for the householder to pay within the limits descibed.

I checked our Groupama household insurance and as far as I can see although we are covered for flood damage there is no mention of cover for costs involving water loss from the main. 

When we filled our pool at 75 000 litres it took just under 2 days on the outside tap so over a period of time with a leak you could run up one hell of a bill! Seems at first sight like a good idea but what do you think folks and have you had any experience with these people?.....................................JR

[Clair]

I've had a letter from them too.

I can't think why they would contact us.

The hamlet is not on mains water... [:-))]

Doméo is a subsidiary of Véolia and Homeserve.

The contract @€5.69 a month is limited to 2 callouts in any one year.

This covers the search and emergency repair (guaranteed for 1 year) of the leak, up to €3 060 per year + €3 000 for the water loss.

The €3 060 ceiling includes travel charges, parts and VAT. How much does that leave for the actual labour? [8-)]

[Punch]

I see you also posted this on another Forum whereby the reply ( from a French national ) was generally that most people don't deem this insurance as necessary - I would agree, although it does depend on how well you know your installation and how much pipe you have on the consumers' side of the meter.

Last year I had to dig up and replace a 20 metre section of water pipe on the consumers' side of the water meter that had sprung a leak ( due to bad installation practices when it was installed). The total cost ( around 2800 euros TTC) was covered by their standard household insurance policy. It wasn't an emergency though, the customer had had an underground leak for quite a few months.

I would double check your insurance policy before taking up this offer as you may be covered, or better still get a RDV with your insurance agent to discuss, - they may have a similar bolt on policy option to your existing cover, as is the norm with motor insurance.

www.punchardrenovation.com

[JohnRoss]

Well I don't know the installation in the sense that I did not do it. The feed from the meter near the road is about 15 metres of black plastic pipe which is buried below the drive and if the depth of the cabinet buried in the ground and housing the water meter is anything to go by then it emerges from the bottom of this enclosure at 42cms deep. Between this point and the house where it enters through the cellar wall it may well go deeper but I have no way of knowing other than by digging up the drive to find out. It would appear that at least part of the run is well less than the suggested depth of 80cm. Last winter I measured a minimum temperature in this cabinet of -2.2 degrees Cesius when the air temperature was -10.6 degrees. The water did not freeze but still a bit worrying!

 It does concern me that I cannot isolate this pipe and I wonder if you can buy the long key so that in an emergency I could turn off the valve at the side of the road before it enters the meter cabinet. Are these available and if so where would I be able to buy it?

I will take your advice and talk to the insurance company to see how much an additional cover would cost though I suspect that there may be a problem in covering the cost of water lost during a prolonged leak..............................JR