Do I have to use my insurer's contractor for a leak?
Not always. The Ombudsman usually expects an insurer to agree if you want to use your own builder, but you are then responsible for that firm's work.
Source: the Ombudsman's guidance to insurers, read on 6 October 2026.
Who chooses the contractor on an insurance claim
Under most policies, the insurer. In practice the Ombudsman usually expects an insurer to agree to your own builder, so ask before appointing anyone.
Read the Ombudsman's wording
Its guidance to insurers says most policies carry a term like this one:
we will decide whether to repair, replace, pay cash or reinstate the damaged part of the building
The last verb in that term is the insurers' word for putting back. The guidance then tells insurers: If the customer wants to use their own builder we'd usually expect you to agree to that.
The guidance concerns builders and repairers. It does not address the firm that locates the leak.
Reading the term in your own policy is covered on Trace and Access Cover.
Source: Financial Ombudsman Service, Settling home insurance claims, read on 6 October 2026.
The two routes, side by side
| Question | The insurer sends its firm | You bring your own |
|---|---|---|
| Who selects the firm | The insurer | You |
| Who is responsible for poor or slow work | The insurer | Usually you, unless the insurer controlled the work |
| Who you complain to | The insurer | The firm you chose |
| If the firm is ADI | Ask your insurer whether it will appoint ADI. | ADI You pay ADI, then claim the cost back if your policy allows it. |
If the insurer sends its own firm
You do not choose the firm, and the insurer is responsible for its work and for the time it takes.
Read the Ombudsman's wording
If you appoint the repairer, you're responsible for: the repairer (and any subcontractors the repairer might appoint), the time it takes the repairer to do the work. So if there's a problem with the repairer's work, you're responsible for sorting it out.
It also describes how insurers procure this work: from building companies on pre-agreed rates that tend to be below the market price
.
Source: Financial Ombudsman Service, Settling home insurance claims. Read on 6 October 2026.
If you bring in your own firm
You choose the firm, and problems with its work are usually for you to resolve with it. Ask how much of your firm's invoice the insurer will pay, and obtain the answer in writing.
Read the Ombudsman's wording, and the exception
In this case the customer is usually responsible for the repairer if things go wrong. But, we'd expect the insurer to make that clear to the customer so that they can make an informed choice about their options.
The exception: an insurer that negotiated the extent or the cost of the work with your firm, or told it which methods or materials to use, may be treated as responsible for that firm.
The guidance does not say how much of your own firm's invoice an insurer reimburses.
Getting approval in writing first is covered on Trace and Access Cover.
Sources: Financial Ombudsman Service, Settling home insurance claims; how ADI is paid, from ADI's terms of service. Read on 6 October 2026.
Locating the leak, repairing the pipe and putting the floor back are separate appointments
An insurer can accept your leak detection firm and still appoint its own builder for the remaining work. Ask about each job separately.
- Finding the leakADI
- Repairing the pipeADI or another firm
- Putting the floor backAnother firm
- Who opens the floor, and how much of itBefore opening up
- Who puts it back afterwardsOnce the pipe is repaired
ADI does not carry out drying or putting back. Source: ADI's leak detection FAQs, read on 6 October 2026.
If a home emergency engineer attended first
Home emergency cover and buildings cover are handled separately. A home emergency engineer may confirm a leak and refer you to your buildings insurer for the search.
A published decision illustrating this
A couple's home emergency engineer confirmed a leak and told them to contact their home insurer to have it found and reached. It is one case, given as an example.
The difference between the two types of cover is explained on Trace and Access Cover.
Source: Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-4131440 (PDF). Read on 6 October 2026.
What the rules expect of an insurer
Whichever firm does the work, the insurer must handle your claim promptly and fairly, provide reasonable guidance and keep you informed of progress.
Read the rule in full
The Financial Conduct Authority's rules say an insurer must:
(1) handle claims promptly and fairly;
(2) provide reasonable guidance to help a policyholder make a claim and appropriate information on its progress;
(3) not unreasonably reject a claim (including by terminating or avoiding a policy); and
(4) settle claims promptly once settlement terms are agreed.
Source: Financial Conduct Authority Handbook, ICOBS 8.1.1. Read on 6 October 2026.
Five questions to ask before agreeing to either route
Put these to the person handling your claim, and ask for the answers in writing.
- Which firm are you appointing, and for which job?
- If the work is poor or slow, who do I complain to?
- If I use my own firm, will you pay its invoice, and up to what limit?
- Do you need to approve my firm in writing before it starts?
- Who puts the floor or wall back, and who pays them?
Example from ADI's records: three firms on one job in Portsmouth
After recent building work, a boiler kept losing pressure. The builders had routed the new heating pipes through the walls.
- Who found the leak
- ADI, using a tracer gas (put into the pipes and picked up by a detector where it leaks out). The leak was behind the rear wall of the lounge.
- What was wrong
- The end of one pipe carried a coating like paint, which stopped its fitting from sealing. The record describes it as a fault in the installation.
- What was repaired
- The coated pipe and the fitting were replaced, and no further leak was found afterwards.
- Who was to pay and put back
- The ADI engineer suggested passing the invoice to the builder who had installed the pipework. The builder had already agreed to put back the opened walls.
From ADI's record of the job. It shows the firm that finds a leak, the firm responsible for it and the firm that puts the wall back can all be different. It is one job, given as an example.