Water leaking from stopcock in house

[ParaJack]

Whilst in the kitchen at 20.00 tonight I heard a faint dripping or water, I located it to the mains stopcock which is behind the kitchen units (boxed in with a small hole to turn the tap on and off) I put my hand on the tap and it was soaking, after pulling out the kitchen units and pulling the boxed in part apart I was faced with the leak (see pic). I turned the tap off and the leak stopped.

Now I know it may just be a case of tightening the top where the pipes join, but as you can see it's old! So I'm worried that I may make it worse and I'll be unable to stop the water coming out.
So what is the best way to sort this? I have home emergency cover through my house insurance, so should I phone them first, or the water company, or just get a local plumber to look at it?

Either way I assume the best bet would be to replace the pipe and the tap with a new one, if so what sort of price will it be?

Thanks in advance.

 

[chris watkins]

Very poor photo, can only just make it out, it doesn't look that old.
Where is the water coming from ??

 

[Simon F]

where exactly on the tap is the leak??
is it the gland nut or as you suggest the fitting nuts??
picture is a bit small, there is a lot of lead there, is it copper above the tap?

 

[Irish]

You've got insurance , use it fella it's what you're paying for simple really , might wanna think about renewing the mains though as they're lead

 

[lame plumber]

a plumber may renew the pipe if you ask, your insurance plumber wont

 

[Ermintrude]

Temp solution until you have your new mdpe main installed.

 

[Ermintrude]

What a rubbish pic !

 

[ParaJack]

OK cheers for the replies guys, just been down and dried everything off and turned the tap on slowly, the water seems to be coming from the tap itself rather than any joints.

I phoned the insurance and they said I'm covered up to £500, nothing to pay by me not even an excess! it doesn't even go against my no claims as it's a separate policy, I said the leak has stopped so no need for a call out tonight, they said someone will phone me first thing in the morning and come out to fix it tomorrow...not bad for £4.99 a year

(Picture being made small once uploaded) This is the tap:

 

[Reg Man]

May not be a disaster. Probably the packing gland on the valve stem. Just requires repacking. That is a guess at most likely solution. Insurance will only pay out for damaged caused, not repair of cause.

 

[ParaJack]

Insurance will only pay out for damaged caused, not repair of cause.

lol I was thinking that, so just looked at the policy details:

No ringing around or out of hours rates to worry about – just a single phone call and we’ll arrange for emergency repairs from a reputable contractor subject to an overall limit of £500 (including VAT) for the call out charge and up to 2 hours labour, plus parts and materials up to a maximum of £100 (including VAT).

I'm no plumber, but I wouldn't think a tap would go over £100...or would it!!!

Hopefully it's a simple fix.

 

[ParaJack]

Just thought it only polite to give you an update, got a call about 30 mins ago saying "It's the plumber from Dynorod, I'll be there in 10 minutes". Sure enough he was true to his word, he's just left after replacing the tap All done and nothing to even sign...best of all pay!

Thanks for the advice guys, appreciate it

 

[PlumbBobBob]

nice shiny new stopcock result!

 

[ParaJack]

Yeah, he said the washer or clip had probably split inside, so just as easy to put a new tap on.

 

[Sag]

OK cheers for the replies guys, just been down and dried everything off and turned the tap on slowly, the water seems to be coming from the tap itself rather than any joints.

I phoned the insurance and they said I'm covered up to £500, nothing to pay by me not even an excess! it doesn't even go against my no claims as it's a separate policy, I said the leak has stopped so no need for a call out tonight, they said someone will phone me first thing in the morning and come out to fix it tomorrow...not bad for £4.99 a year

(Picture being made small once uploaded) This is the tap:

A year or per month?

 

[ParaJack]

£4.99 Per year mate, it's an extra that you can add on, choice of a few at £4.99 each: </title> <link rel="icon" href="../../../wcm/fragments/SW_FAV_ICON/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="../../../wcm/fragments/SW_FAV_ICON/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <title>Sheilas? Wheels - Optional extras: fa

Think the first year I got the lot for free.

PS: Don't be put of by the name, it's the same company as Esure.

 

[RoyalCrabs]

Nice to see it sorted out, sounded like a simple job but my goodness... the rest of that pipework is terrifying !

 

[ParaJack]

Yeah I asked him to check it out, as you can see it's the old lead pipe but he said it's solid enough and more importantly dry!