Buildings/plumbing insurance cover on mains pipe

saturdaysarebest

Hi,

Looking for a bit of advice and hoping I'm in the right place.

Water has leaked from my kitchen down into my neighbour's kitchen due to a crack in a valve on the mains water pipe. It's a polypipe valve that connects a lead and copper pipe. As it's an old lead pipe, there's no stopcock so the water needs to be turned off at the mains to fix it. We're in a tenement block in Scotland and employ a factor to manage the property.

The steps I've taken are:

1.Contacted buildings insurance company who arranged an emergency plumber who did a temp fix on it. They say not liable for any more as it's wear and tear.

2. Contacted British Gas as I have their plumbing insurance - they won't touch it as they refuse to switch water off at the mains.

3. Contacted factor as it's the mains pipe and BG said it would be a communal repair. Factor said it's not communal as the valve is on my branch of the mains pipe.

Just wanted to get feedback as to whether advice from insurance cos/factor is correct before I organise my own plumber to come out and pay for it myself?

Also, I think the process for sorting the damage to my neighbour's ceiling is that she claims on her insurance who then get reimbursed by my insurance company? Does that sound right?

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

jemw

speak to scottish water to see if they can give you any advice on responsibilities - they should be able to help