I used to have a similar account with Nat West - on the basis that they would provide rapid skilled support in the event of an emergency.
One day the drains started to smell. Lifted cover - obviously blocked. Called Nat West who helpfully explained that as it had not overflowed it was not an emergency. I did suggest it was only a matter of time - and the clean up would then be rather more serious.
No dice. Shortly afterwards I closed account - a waste of money.
Indeed - too many of such policies have many legal 'get out' clauses to avoid many common problems. I do remember one former colleague of mine saying that many such policies (though perhaps not all) deliberately don't cover the 'communication' mains water pipe, i.e. the one from the (likely external in your front garden or pavement in the street) water meter to your home's internal stop valve.
Any leak in that is then down to the homeowner, not the insurer or the water utility company. The latter will probably want to flog you a policy covering that, but for about £150 - £200pa.
As you discovered, they would only resolve the blockage problem after the drain overflowed, which would be vastly more destructive, disruptive and ironically (for them), expensive.
What you might want to check in that circumstance is whether damage to things like carpets, furnishings, electrics and having to use washing facilities elsewhere would be covered if a blockage that wasn't immediately fixed caused damage because it overflowed back into your home.
You might have to claim off your home contents/buildings policy, which would then rise next year onwards, as might the one for your pipes, which would be a double blow.
Insurers are a sneaky, duplicitous lot IMHO.
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