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Neighbour's insurance company not accepting liability for leak affecting party wall
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chillisaucesalad
Posts: 7 Forumite
Background: elderly parents own a semi detached house, the other half of which has been developed into flats by a Housing Association (HA).
Several months ago, we noticed discolouration of wallpaper/ceiling in ground floor bedroom . It appears that the top floor flat next door has an extruding water pipe that leaks water onto the external wall. These leaks drip down and have saturated the party wall, and in turn the ground floor rooms (most likely on their side as well as ours) .
The result is that now the wallpaper has started peeling and black mould has appeared over the wall and ceiling.It smells too. I had a builder look at it and he thinks the plaster needs to be stripped back to brick level, dried(possibly with dehumidifier), anti damp sealand injected and fresh plaster, wallpaper and paint reapplied- which could take time.
I complained to the HA , who were unable to send a surveyor/plumber for 3 months as the upstairs tenant was abroad (surely the HA - in a Landlord capacity- could gain access to the flat to treat leaking pipes) .
Once she returned, they sent a plumber to stop the leak. However they have rebuffed our requests to fix the leak damage and referred us to their insurers.
Well i wrote to the insurance company with a detailed timeline of how long we have been chasing the HA to fix these, the details of the damage etc.
Now the insurance company has turned around and said since the ground floor tenant (whose bedroom is connected to the party wall) hasn't complained and that the HA has stopped the leak in a timely manner (in their opinion) they don't accept any liability.
I spoke to the local council about the mould as i was concerned about the health risks and they have been stonewalled by the HA also.
The HA are hiding behind the insurance company. The insurance company seem to let their client HA get away with anything- as the leak is clearly from their side (the water trail on external wall shows this)
What can I do? Is there a claim I can make under the Party Wall act for damage? or should I pay to get it fixed myself and seek repayment via small claims court?
Can't believe its taken the HA 3 months just to stop the leak, and they won't do any more considering its their leak.
Am fuming!!!:mad:
Several months ago, we noticed discolouration of wallpaper/ceiling in ground floor bedroom . It appears that the top floor flat next door has an extruding water pipe that leaks water onto the external wall. These leaks drip down and have saturated the party wall, and in turn the ground floor rooms (most likely on their side as well as ours) .
The result is that now the wallpaper has started peeling and black mould has appeared over the wall and ceiling.It smells too. I had a builder look at it and he thinks the plaster needs to be stripped back to brick level, dried(possibly with dehumidifier), anti damp sealand injected and fresh plaster, wallpaper and paint reapplied- which could take time.
I complained to the HA , who were unable to send a surveyor/plumber for 3 months as the upstairs tenant was abroad (surely the HA - in a Landlord capacity- could gain access to the flat to treat leaking pipes) .
Once she returned, they sent a plumber to stop the leak. However they have rebuffed our requests to fix the leak damage and referred us to their insurers.
Well i wrote to the insurance company with a detailed timeline of how long we have been chasing the HA to fix these, the details of the damage etc.
Now the insurance company has turned around and said since the ground floor tenant (whose bedroom is connected to the party wall) hasn't complained and that the HA has stopped the leak in a timely manner (in their opinion) they don't accept any liability.
I spoke to the local council about the mould as i was concerned about the health risks and they have been stonewalled by the HA also.
The HA are hiding behind the insurance company. The insurance company seem to let their client HA get away with anything- as the leak is clearly from their side (the water trail on external wall shows this)
What can I do? Is there a claim I can make under the Party Wall act for damage? or should I pay to get it fixed myself and seek repayment via small claims court?
Can't believe its taken the HA 3 months just to stop the leak, and they won't do any more considering its their leak.
Am fuming!!!:mad: 0
Comments
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Best bet would be for your parents to claim on their own insurance and let the 2 companies argue it out surely?
ali x"Overthinking every little thing
Acknowledge the bell you cant unring"0 -
Insurers always deny liability in the first instance. Why would they pay out without any motivation to do so? You haven't even threatened them with court yet.
Your parent's insurers should be dealing with this. Refer it to them, they have teams who sort this stuff out.
If they don't have insurance it gets a bit more complicated and they may have to pursue the neighbour's insurer through the courts.0 -
I wouldn’t stress over it as it all sounds so clear cut.
If your parents don’t have the insurance cover, you (or a solicitor acting for you) can compile the claim based on the builder’s estimate. Ensure everything under the sun is in there like alternative accommodation, and send it to the errant insurance company.
Make sure they realise you mean business. Don’t say ‘I really feel you should…’ say ‘If we do not hear from you by dd-mmm-yy we will proceed…etc’.
Insurers are the veritable scum of the Earth and need regular thrashing.
It’s good fun.
gfi!0 -
Absolutely let your insurance company to deal with this.
Water damage is the pits. It needs to be completely rectified or you can have repeat problems coming back at you. You really don't need to be wrrying about the ins and outs of everything - it's what you pay your insurance premiums for."One day I realised that when you are lying in your grave, it's no good saying, "I was too shy, too frightened."
Because by then you've blown your chances. That's it."0 -
I don't really see why you'd need any specific damp treatment -anti damp injection? There should be anything wet on that wall to prevent! It's just one of those things that happen sometimes.
Don't like your builder.
It needs drying out, possibly replastering if it's badly affected but it does not need a damp treatment, that's just stupid.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
0 -
They don't have insurance currently so I guess the solicitor option is the way forward.
Could anyone calrify exactly what work would be needed to treat damp in walls/ceiling?
whats a reasonable rate for a solicitor to deal with this ?
thanks0 -
chillisaucesalad wrote: »They don't have insurance currently
Why are they uninsured?
You need to get them insured.
Today!
It's too late for this problem. What exactly are their plans if their house burns down? Or is flooded. Or is burgled? Being uninsured is not an option."One day I realised that when you are lying in your grave, it's no good saying, "I was too shy, too frightened."
Because by then you've blown your chances. That's it."0 -
The insurance to cover this matter would be buildings cover. You’re sure they don’t have that?chillisaucesalad wrote: »They don't have insurance currently so I guess the solicitor option is the way forward.
Could anyone calrify exactly what work would be needed to treat damp in walls/ceiling?
whats a reasonable rate for a solicitor to deal with this ?
thanks
You could do the claiming yourself. It really only needs clear thinking followed by clear letter writing.
Most solicitors will see you for a short chat free, and at that point tell you their likely charges. Unfortunately from my many experiences, solicitors come only very very slightly above the insurers, who are the veritable scum of the Earth and need regular thrashing, etc, etc.
Being uninsured IS an option when there’s enough dosh for food or insurance, but not both.0 -
not_loaded wrote: »Being uninsured IS an option when there’s enough dosh for food or insurance, but not both.
Considering the op is happily talking about employing a solicitor, I'd say it's safe to assume that the food vs insurance isn't one that is relevent in this particular situation.
Simple buildings insurance can cost the equivalent of £3ish per week"One day I realised that when you are lying in your grave, it's no good saying, "I was too shy, too frightened."
Because by then you've blown your chances. That's it."0 -
Firstly, ‘whats a reasonable rate for a solicitor to deal with this ?’ is not ‘happily talking about’. Secondly, talking about and actually committing are different things.Considering the op is happily talking about employing a solicitor, I'd say it's safe to assume that the food vs insurance isn't one that is relevent in this particular situation.
Simple buildings insurance can cost the equivalent of £3ish per week
I was merely making the point that sometimes tough decisions have to be made in difficult financial times. You don’t have to look far on MSE to see examples of that.0
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