How dental practices can avoid water damage
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For dental practices across the UK, burst pipes and leaking appliances remain the most expensive cause of claims.2 These claims, which insurers call ‘escape of water’, arise in the aftermath of water damage. If a practice is unprepared, water damage can leave patients and dental chairs hanging out to dry.
With your practice’s water dependency in mind, here are some tips on how to reduce your risks of water damage:
1. Use a water shut-off device
In the event of a leak or a burst pipe, a shut-off device can reduce the impact of water damage. If your practice doesn’t have one, here are some suitable options for you to consider:
If you install a water shut-off device, it proves to your insurer that you are trying to reduce your risks of water damage. This is why, in the dental practice policy we provide, the excess is reduced to £0 for claims where a water shut-off device is installed and in use.
2. Come home time, switch off the mains
The longer a practice is left unattended (during weekends, bank holidays or overnight), the longer a leak will go undetected. To put that into perspective, last year, leaks in the UK produced enough water to fill 1,273 Olympic sized pools every day.3 To avoid prolonged damage, take extra measures such as:
3. Check damage in the pipeline
As time goes by, modern-day plastic is replacing traditional metal pipework. While this reduces building costs, the use of plastic components in your practice’s pipework could leave the plumbing more susceptible to leakage or bursts.
For good practice, it’s worth getting a fully qualified plumber to carry out regular maintenance checks to make sure everything is up to scratch.
For times where prevention isn’t enough, your practice insurance is there to compensate the damage caused by escaping water.
If extensive damage destroys your practice, consider a policy that provides you with a back-up plan, such as an emergency mobile dental clinic – this will allow you to carry on treating your patients while you wait for your practice to become operational again.
Every practice is different, so it’s important that your practice insurance policy reflects the unique risks that yours could be exposed to. For the key areas of cover to consider, have a look at our dental practice policy guide.
To find out more about reducing your practice’s risks:
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1Insurance Hound, 2018
2Lloyd & Whyte claims, 2017-2018
3Water UK, 2017-2018