swinton insurance complaint

dacouch

The Policy you have with Swintins will cover the plumbing etc within your property and the plumbing and pipes you are responsible for. You cannot expect them to repair a neighboors plumbing if it is not your property or responsibility. Imagine if you lived in a block of 30 flats, you could not expect a policy covering your property to pay out for repairs for any plumbing in the other 30 flats that affected your property.

Your policy will cover physical damage such as a burst pipe etc it will probably have an exclusion along the lines of that they will not pay for any failure of mains supplies which by the sounds of it you have.

It appears to me that the neighboor did the damage 3 months ago and nothing has been done which is whats causing the problem.

It is the Landlords through the Letting Agent responsibility to repair the damage. It might be worth putting a post on the "House buying, Renting & Selling" forum on MSE as they may be able to give you advice. I suspect the neighboor might be able to get the work done as an "Emergency Repair" and then claim the money back from the landlord. If you post on the other forum they may be able to answer that.

phlogeston

markeymark wrote: »

so i have to force an elderly man to flood his property?

common sense should prevail, not anyones fault here but his letting agent

and the property is uninhabitable, the manager from swinton said it was (ie having no basic amenities eg toilet,shower,heating,hot water) this is irrelevant where the problem is!

and also not very good for swinton to ask me to put pressure on my neighbour!!

1) No one is asking him to flood his property. He needs to fix the leak.
If he chooses not to, why should Swinton be asked to pay?

2) Where is your common sense? Why should Swinton pay for your neighbour's lack of insurance and your landlord's intransigence?

3) The property is unhabitable because a stop !!!! has been turn off. To make it habitable all you need to do is turn the stop !!!! back on!

4) Insurance covers you and your property against specific risks/events. Why are you complaining because your insurance doesn't cover a third party? Your problem is with your neighbour and your landlord - but you wish to pass the buck to Swinton. Stop complaining about them and speak to the people who are causing the problem.

5) If the problem is making you flat uninhabitable, then fix the problem and withold the rent in order to pay for any repairs.

!!!! = a male chicken. The filter believes this word to be too obscene to show!

markeymark

phlogeston- for one im in my own private property not a tenant as u suggest!

also if u read the post i have tried contacting my neighbours letting agency but unfortunately because of the holiday weekend they arent open till tomorrow!

im not asking for my insurance company to pay for his problem, i simply suggested that it could be fixed and billed to the letting agency since i cannot get in contact with them

have drafted an email complaint to my neighbours letting agent and will take things from there

but thanks for your comments

judging by the comments on the post different people have different views

DrScotsman

Wow, this is a complicated but interesting problem!

Would it be fraud or illegal otherwise if you now called Swinton and pretended to have no knowledge of your neighbour? If not, that would be a good start.

I don't know what the terms of the policy are, but I'd assume they make the responsibility lie with Swinton - that IS what insurance is for, right? However I don't see why they should be expected to come and fix the problem and bill the letting agent, you could get any plumber to do that surely.

As for the letting agency...well it's clear that they're liable from the moment they're open, I'm not sure if they're liable from the moment this problem happened. I say that if they're liable to the neighbour, they're liable to you.

markeymark

drscotsman,

it is a complex situation m8 and thanks for your comments

as said i am drafting a strong letter to the letting agent, think they may be taking the !!!! with their tenant as he is an elderly man!

the letting agent should have details of who to call in an emergency out of hours situation

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

markeymark wrote: »

drscotsman,

it is a complex situation m8 and thanks for your comments

as said i am drafting a strong letter to the letting agent, think they may be taking the !!!! with their tenant as he is an elderly man!

the letting agent should have details of who to call in an emergency out of hours situation

With all respect there is nothing complex about it.

Your neighbour turned the water off and shouldnt have it, its there responsibility be they old or otherwise to sort it.

If they cant get in touch with the letting agent they should have paid out of pocket and reclaimed it later. The old man obviously knew enough to turn the water off.

Your suggestions that swinton done anything wrong is pretty naive at best or a downright slur at worst.

phlogeston

markeymark wrote: »

phlogeston- for one im in my own private property not a tenant as u suggest!

Old man / letting agent. Therefore, must be a landlord who is responsible for the property! So I am quite correct to state it is the landlord's responsibility to fix the flat that is being let.