Field notes
“I thought I was covered.” The sentence every broker dreads
· By Diane du Paty, CEO & co-founder · 1 min read
A water leak, an embedded pipe, a wall opened up. The client thought they were well insured; leak-detection costs were capped. Why a policy is understood at the claim, and what the broker can do before.
“I thought I was covered.” It is the sentence every broker dreads after a claim.
This month, a case came to me from a partner agency. A water leak in a flat. An embedded pipe, a wall opened up, major works. The client is convinced they are well insured. They find out afterwards that the damage is partly excluded.
Why? Because the policy distinguishes the damage caused by the leak from the leak-detection costs, which are capped. On paper, it is all written. In real life, nobody reads a clause like that.
The clause, and its translation
As it often appears: “Leak-detection costs are covered up to a cap, excluding reinstatement works.”
The version explained to my grandmother: “The insurer pays to find the leak, but not necessarily to break and redo the walls. And that is usually where it gets expensive.”
In this file, the client had lowered their premium the year before, without measuring that this type of cost had become barely covered.
What will multiply in 2026
Policyholders trade off more, faster, often on price. The broker’s role, in those moments, is simple but demanding:
- translate the clauses before the claim;
- illustrate with concrete cases;
- document the advice when a trade-off is made.
What to take from it
An insurance policy is rarely understood at signature. It is always understood at the claim. The broker’s job is to make sure that moment is not a bad surprise.
