Damages from neighbours' builders

Boob00

Our house has suffered significant water damage from the next door property: their builders thought they had switched the stop !!!! off but had not done so and during the cold weather either a newly fitted pipe froze and burst, or simply just broke in the night and water poured through our house.
We are currently at the start of a home insurance claim which will mean three main rooms in our house need to be stripped back to bare plaster and redecorated. Our insurance company will pursue the builder's insurers to reclaim costs. However, having just been through this with the same neighbours last year, I know that we will be left taking multiple days off work, with unforseen expenses and with months of dirty work to get our house back to anything like 'normal'. So my question is whether and how you feel we could pursue the neighbour's builders for these costs/damages/emotional upset? Thanks

Aylesbury_Duck

You can claim for any genuine losses. Emotional upset is not one of them.

Boohoo

Boob00 wrote: »

Our house has suffered significant water damage from the next door property: their builders thought they had switched the stop !!!! off but had not done so and during the cold weather either a newly fitted pipe froze and burst, or simply just broke in the night and water poured through our house.
We are currently at the start of a home insurance claim which will mean three main rooms in our house need to be stripped back to bare plaster and redecorated. Our insurance company will pursue the builder's insurers to reclaim costs. However, having just been through this with the same neighbours last year, I know that we will be left taking multiple days off work, with unforseen expenses and with months of dirty work to get our house back to anything like 'normal'. So my question is whether and how you feel we could pursue the neighbour's builders for these costs/damages/emotional upset? Thanks

If/when all the work is done maybe sell up if you own the dwelling and move to detached dwelling away from the neighbours from hell.


Good luck.

missile

Maybe get a better insurance provider?

However, having just been through this with the same neighbours last year, I know that we will be left taking multiple days off work, with unforseen expenses and with months of dirty work to get our house back to anything like 'normal'.

If you had a good provider this would no happen

usefulmale

I'm not sure how a burst pipe next door can 'pour through your house'. From an upstairs flat, certainly.

Can you explain how this happened?

Boob00

Good question: we wish we knew. It's a terraced house and the water came down from their loft extension, through the party wall, across and through our ceiling.
We are stuck with the same insurance provider as last time due to being part way through the last claim so have no option to change providers at present - trust me we will do so as soon as we are able. They are less than generous and last time refused to move us out or pay for after builder's clean following strip out works in 3 areas. We know from last time that they will pay for the damaged part of a room to be redecorated but not the other parts so it matches etc and we will be left financially out of pocket as well as the time and stress.
So do people think we have a leg to stand on pursuing our neighbour's builder for additional costs and stress?

Aylesbury_Duck

For any genuine losses you have suffered, yes. For stress, no.