Ask The Trades - Issue with concealed leak

Chimera

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Issue with concealed leak
Sep 12^th, 2026, 9:35pm

Hi. I have a hidden leak in my kitchen, and I'm not sure what to do.

I can hear a gushing sound when the mains are turned on. TBH I only recently realised where the noise was coming from. I inherited the house from my mother, and she had one of those Surestop things installed, which I've learnt aren't reliable and are prone to failing. I suspected it was coming from that, now I know different.

A blister started to form on the corner box where the mains pipe enters after passing through the stop cock and Surestop, then comes out again. It appears to be in there.

I've resorted to turning off the mains, and relying on my loft tank and stored drinking water, and only turning in the mains when the tank is empty.

I'm not sure what to do. I have Corgi cover, but apparently they won't touch it until someone else has made the leaking pipework accessible. I'm not sure how to go about that? I have Trace & Access cover with my home insurance, is that what I need?

I put in a claim for that, and I got back an email telling me to contact them,but when I did I got told they are closed.

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woodsmith

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Re: Issue with concealed leak
Reply #1 - Sep 13^th, 2026, 9:19am

You need to be careful drinking water that has been stored in a loft tank, most times it isn’t fit for human consumption. For drinking water I would fill up some bottles from the kitchen tap.

You are right Corgi won’t find a hidden leak and Trace and Access cover is what you need. Does your house insurance have an emergency number? Give them a call on that and tell them you have had to turn the water off and you have no water in the house. Hopefully that will spur them into action. Once they have localised the leak you will then probably need to get Corgi out as Trace and Access cover doesn’t cover the repair itself.

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Chimera

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Re: Issue with concealed leak
Reply #2 - Sep 13^th, 2026, 10:03pm

woodsmith wrote on Sep 13^th, 2026, 9:19am:

You need to be careful drinking water that has been stored in a loft tank, most times it isn’t fit for human consumption. For drinking water I would fill up some bottles from the kitchen tap.

You are right Corgi won’t find a hidden leak and Trace and Access cover is what you need. Does your house insurance have an emergency number? Give them a call on that and tell them you have had to turn the water off and you have no water in the house. Hopefully that will spur them into action. Once they have localised the leak you will then probably need to get Corgi out as Trace and Access cover doesn’t cover the repair itself.

Thanks for the reply. I'm only using the tank water for washing and flushing the toilet, and keeping bottles of water from the tap in the fridge. But it means having to turn on the mains for 30 minutes to refill the loft tank every evening.

I got onto my home insurer on Friday, and they sent an email late yesterday morning to contact them, but when I did they were shut, which I'm still pissed about because there was no mention of a deadline in the email!

I don't have emergency cover. I didn't think I needed it since I have the cover with Corgi. I didn't realise they'd only be prepared to do half the job. I inherited the house from my parents, and I've never had to deal with anything like this before.

The one and only time I've called Corgi out before (for a leaking manhole cover in the back garden), they came down and fixed it and that was that.

TBH I'm finding it all a complete pita. I'd far rather be able to make one call, and have the same people do the complete job on one go. Why I have to juggle two sets of contractors I have absolutely zero idea.......

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