A loss adjuster is appointed and paid by your insurer to check what happened, what caused it and what your policy covers. They walk the damage, ask about the timeline and read your reports. Have dated photos, receipts and a written timeline ready, keep damaged materials until they have seen them, and let a leak report answer the cause question.
The insurer has rung to say a loss adjuster will be in touch to arrange a visit. If that sentence made your stomach drop, you are in good company. Most people picture someone arriving with a clipboard to find reasons not to pay. The reality is more ordinary. A loss adjuster visit after a water leak is a routine step on larger claims, and knowing what they are there to do takes most of the worry out of it.
Who the loss adjuster works for
A loss adjuster is instructed by the insurer, not by you. Their job is to establish the facts of the claim and measure them against your policy wording, then recommend what should be paid. They are not there to be your advocate, but they are not there to trip you up either. A fair adjuster wants the file to be accurate, because an inaccurate file causes problems for the insurer later.
There is a second job title that gets confused with it. A loss assessor works for you, the policyholder, usually for a fee or a percentage of the settlement, and negotiates with the insurer on your behalf. Most domestic water leak claims do not need one. Where the claim is large or already in dispute, some people find it worth the cost.
Not every claim gets an adjuster. Smaller escape of water claims are often handled over the phone with photographs. A visit tends to mean the insurer wants a closer look at the extent of the damage, the cause, or both. That is not a bad sign in itself.
What they check on the day
Visits vary with the insurer and the size of the claim, but most follow the same shape and rarely last more than an hour or so for a domestic property.
- The damage itself. They walk through the affected rooms, look at ceilings, walls, floors and fitted units, take their own photographs and measurements, and often use a moisture meter to see how far the water has spread.
- The cause. What actually failed, and whether it points to a sudden event or to something that had been going on for a while. This is the question that decides most claims, and the one a leak report answers.
- The timeline. When you first noticed water, what you did, how quickly you isolated the supply, who you called.
- Your cover. Which sections of the policy apply, the excess, and whether trace and access cover is involved. Our guide to how trace and access cover works explains why finding the leak and repairing the damage are handled separately.
- The condition of the property generally. They may glance at the age of the plumbing, signs of earlier damp, and how well things have been maintained. In an older Cornish cottage this is where wear and tear questions come from.
- What happens next. Drying, whether specialist drying contractors are needed, and the scope of repair.
What to have ready
Insurers work from paper. The more of the story is written down, the less the outcome depends on how the conversation goes. Put the following in one folder, physical or on your phone, before the visit.
| What to have | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Dated photographs of the damage as you first found it | Fixes the extent and timing before drying or repairs change the scene |
| A one-page written timeline | Shows when you noticed the leak and how fast you acted, which insurers weigh heavily |
| Leak detection or trace and access report | Confirms cause and location independently, in language the adjuster reads every day |
| Plumber’s invoice and notes | Records what was repaired and what part failed |
| Receipts for emergency work | Supports claims for drying equipment, temporary repairs and call-outs |
| Your policy schedule | So you can check what they say against what you hold |
| Correspondence with the insurer | A record of what has been agreed and when |
If the leak was found by a specialist, the report should already cover the cause. If a plumber found and fixed it, ask them for a short written note saying what failed and where. A one-line invoice reading “repaired leak” is not much use to anyone.
What not to throw away
This is the mistake that costs people the most. In the rush to make the house liveable, wet carpet goes in a skip, the split fitting goes in the plumber’s van, and the swollen kitchen plinth goes to the tip. Two weeks later the adjuster asks to see them.
- Damaged materials. Keep carpet, underlay, flooring, plasterboard and fitted units until the adjuster has seen them or confirmed in writing that photographs are enough. Bag wet carpet and put it in the garage rather than binning it.
- The failed part. Ask the plumber to leave you the pipe section, fitting or valve that failed. It is physical proof of what happened and of whether the failure was sudden.
- Ruined belongings. Photograph each item, note where it was bought and roughly when, and keep it if you can. Contents claims are itemised.
- Receipts for anything you had to buy in a hurry, from dehumidifiers to a replacement kettle.
If you have to dispose of something for hygiene or safety, photograph it from several angles first, and email the insurer to say what you have done and why. A dated email is nearly as good as the item.
Why the leak report does the heavy lifting
Loss adjusters are not plumbers and do not carry detection equipment. They assess cause against cover, and where the source is unclear, a leak under a solid floor, a pipe behind a tiled wall, a supply pipe under the drive, they have to rely on what the file tells them. A report that names the source, the method used to find it and the type of failure removes the guesswork, and it can settle whether the claim sits under buildings cover, trace and access, or both.
A proper trace and access report records the location, the readings from thermal imaging, acoustic listening, tracer gas or moisture mapping, the access that was needed, and photographs of the pipe once exposed. The one thing it does better than anything else is separate a sudden failure from long-term seepage, and on an older property that is the whole argument.
Granite terraces in Redruth and Camborne, cob farmhouses inland, Victorian villas in Falmouth with pipes rerouted three times: the age of the fabric gives an adjuster an easy line about wear and tear. A report that shows a fractured joint on a pipe that was otherwise sound is the answer to that line.
Handling the visit itself
Be there, or make sure someone who knows the story is. Walk them through the rooms in the order the water travelled, from where it escaped to where it ended up. Answer the questions asked, honestly and briefly, and do not guess at things you do not know. “The plumber said the joint had split” is a fact. “It must have been leaking for ages” is a guess that can end up on the form as your statement.
Take your own notes of what was said, and ask what happens next and when you should expect to hear.
After the visit
The adjuster writes a report and recommendation for the insurer, who then confirms the outcome to you in writing. That may be approval for repairs, authority for drying contractors, or a request for further information. Timescales are the insurer’s, and vary.
If the decision is not what you expected, you are not stuck with it. Our guide to challenging a claim refused as gradual damage covers the complaints route and the Financial Ombudsman Service. Where the claim is simply at an earlier stage, the order of events in our water leak claim walkthrough helps you keep the paperwork straight. We carry out leak detection across Cornwall and write our reports for exactly this audience, so if the adjuster is due and nobody has yet confirmed where the water came from, that is the gap to close first.
Frequently asked questions
Is the loss adjuster on my side?
Not exactly. A loss adjuster is appointed and paid by your insurer to establish the facts and measure them against your policy. They are meant to be fair rather than partisan. If you want someone acting solely for you, that is a loss assessor, who you appoint and usually pay yourself.
What should I have ready for a loss adjuster visit after a water leak?
Dated photographs of the damage as you found it, a short written timeline, a leak detection or plumber’s report naming the cause, receipts for emergency work and drying, your policy schedule and your correspondence with the insurer. Keep damaged materials and the failed part until the adjuster has seen them.
Can I throw away wet carpet before the loss adjuster comes?
Ideally not. Keep damaged carpet, flooring and fittings until the adjuster has inspected them or confirmed in writing that photographs are sufficient. If something has to go for hygiene reasons, photograph it from several angles and email the insurer to say what you removed and why before it leaves the house.
Do I need a leak detection report before the loss adjuster visits?
Not always, but it helps whenever the source of the water is unclear or the property is older. Adjusters assess cause against cover, and a report that names the location, method and type of failure answers the cause question before it is asked. It is also the strongest evidence if the claim is later disputed.
How long does a loss adjuster visit take?
For a typical domestic water leak claim, usually around an hour, sometimes less. Larger or disputed claims take longer and may need a follow-up visit. Having your photographs, timeline and any reports in one place is the surest way to keep it short, because it leaves fewer questions to work through on the day.
Adjuster booked, source unknown?
If nobody has yet confirmed where the water came from, we can locate the leak and give you an insurer-ready report before the visit, so the cause is on paper rather than in dispute.
