Water damage claim evidence checklist
The evidence you capture in the first day is what secures a full payout. Photograph everything before you clean up, get the cause in writing, and keep every receipt. This is the full list, and why each item earns its place.
The checklist, in one place
- Photos and video of every affected area, before clean-up
- Photos of the leak source itself
- A room-by-room list of the damage
- An item inventory with descriptions and values
- A plumber's or leak detection report on the cause
- Moisture readings and the drying report
- Receipts for emergency work, drying hire and temporary repairs
- Alternative accommodation costs and the extra expenses of being out
- Your own itemised repair quotes
- The insurer's scope of works
- A dated note of every call, visit and agreement
Photograph and video everything, before clean-up
This is the step that decides the claim. Before you dry out, tidy, or bin anything, capture clear photos and video of the source of the leak and every affected area. You cannot recreate this evidence later, and an insurer assessing the claim weeks afterwards has only what you took.
A few things make photographs more useful than the ones most people take:
- Wide then close. One shot that shows the whole room and where it sits in the house, then close detail of each damaged area.
- Capture the water while it is there. Standing water, a wet tide mark up a wall, water running from a ceiling. Once it has dried, the extent becomes arguable.
- Video a slow walkthrough, talking as you go. Saying the date, the room and what you are looking at turns a clip into a record.
- Include something for scale, a tape measure against the wet plasterboard or a ruler in a pool of water.
- Keep the originals on the phone rather than sending compressed copies only. The file dates are part of the evidence.
Don't throw anything away yet
Keep ruined items until they have been recorded and, ideally, seen by the insurer or the loss adjuster. Where something has to go for hygiene reasons, photograph it clearly first and note why it could not be kept.
The room-by-room list
Go through the property room by room and note the damage in each: flooring, walls, ceilings, skirting, fitted units, doors, and the contents. Include the rooms with no visible damage where water may have travelled, such as the floor below or a cupboard on a shared wall, and say that you checked them.
A methodical list is harder to whittle down than a vague one, and it is what you check the insurer's scope of works against when it arrives.
The item inventory, with values
List every damaged item with a short description and a rough replacement value. Include model numbers, and any receipts, bank records or old photographs that show the item in good condition. Estimating a round number for a roomful of belongings invites a round number back; an itemised schedule is much harder to reduce.
Get the cause in writing
This is the item most homeowners miss, and the one that decides contested claims. Insurers refuse more water claims for gradual damage and wear and tear than for anything else, and that argument is about the cause rather than the damage.
So ask the plumber or leak detection engineer for a written report, not just an invoice, and ask it to cover three things: what failed, how it failed, and whether the failure was sudden. A report describing a split pipe or a failed connector as a sudden failure is the single most useful document in a disputed claim. Where the leak was hidden, trace and access cover can often pay for the detection work, so tell the insurer before you commission it.
Moisture readings and the drying report
Drying is where claims get quietly cut short. Ask the drying contractor for the moisture readings and the drying certificate at the end, and keep the interim readings if you can get them. Numbers settle the question of whether a wall was dry when repairs started, which an opinion does not, and drying takes weeks rather than days.
Receipts to keep
- Emergency plumber, make-safe work and temporary repairs.
- Drying and dehumidifier hire, and the electricity cost of running it if you were asked to.
- Skip hire, cleaning and waste removal.
- Alternative accommodation, plus the extra costs of being out, such as higher food bills, laundry or a longer commute.
- Storage for undamaged belongings while work is carried out.
Your paper trail with the insurer
Keep a simple claim diary from the first call: the date and time, who you spoke to, what was said and what was agreed. Follow important calls up with a short email so there is a written record. Save every letter and email, and ask for decisions, and the policy wording being relied on, in writing.
Dates matter more than people expect. They answer a late notification argument, they establish when you discovered the leak, and they are the backbone of a complaint about delay if the claim stalls.
Why it matters
Thorough evidence does two jobs. It lets you claim for everything you are entitled to and stops an insurer quietly leaving items out, and it answers the specific reason given if a claim is refused. It is the foundation of maximising your payout and of challenging a denied claim. If you are at the start of the process, work through how to make a successful water leak claim alongside this list.
Free claim review
Got your evidence together? Send us the details and we will tell you whether your claim looks fairly handled, and what is missing if not. Get a free claim review.
We are not an insurer, a loss adjuster, or regulated by the FCA. This page is general information, not financial or legal advice. Cover varies between policies, so always check your own policy wording.