Water Damage from Mains burst in Neighbour's house

Rockinbikergal

I'm hoping someone will be able to clear up a little bit of confusion I am having.

Our neighbour had a mains pipe burst in their roofspace resulting in water damage to the adjoining wall of our property....there was water physically running into our house, down the walls and it even managed to put out our coal fire. While their house was significantly damaged ours got off lighter but we now have wallpaper and carpet damage. We had just recently finished decorating as my house is on the market but due to the damage have had to call my estate agent and ask him to hold off on viewings for the next few days so that we can get the carpets dried out etc. My husband phoned our insurance company to find out what we should do regarding the claim and we were informed that we have to claim off our own insurance and pay excesses on both policies (contents and building) for any work that is required. What I can't understand is, when the burst pipe was not in our house and therefore not our fault, why do we have to pay to rectify this problem and increase our own insurance on renewal. The property next door is a rental property. Will their insurance cover damage to our house?

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help

dogbot

Will their insurance cover damage to our house?

If you can prove that your neighbour, or their tenants, have been negligent, then you will be able to claim the cost of damage from them - their insurers will step in front of the claim.

1) The chance that they either are negligent or that even if they are that you can prove it, are extreamly slim.

2) EVEN IF they are at fault, you are still better going though your own insurer. They have a commercial relationship with you and so an interst to get the claim settled to your satisfaction. Under your policy you are entitled to cover that is greater than pure indemnity - you will get new for old cover, though this is of slightly less concern if you have just re-decorated, it is still a major simplifying factor. If they are at fault, your insurer can then deal with recovering their outlay and you can get on with selling your house.


Ok, so that is one way of putting it. The other is to think of it from their point of view. Say you are sitting there watching TV and suddeny a pipe bursts in your house - as they do, and water gushes down, into your house and your neighbours. The burst is not your fault, so why should you pay for your neighbours damage?

The same would be the case should your neighbours property be set ablaze, say by an arsonist or though some electical fire - say an old appliance overheats. Your own insurance is there to protect you. Similarly, say a tile is blown off your roof but a storm - the roof is well maintained - and damages your neighbours car. You are not to blame, you might have even been away at the time - your neighbour can not claim against you.

Because these things happen, your mortgage provider insists that you have buildings insurance.

Where there is blame, there is sometimes a claim, but where there is no blame, there is not a claim.

Rockinbikergal

thank you for your reply and clarifying those points for me.....although we were being told by our insurers that we should claim through them they were not explaining why so this helps a lot

dogbot

No problem. At the end of the day, you paid your premiums for their service so let them deliver it. Actualy, make sure they do it well. Hopefully they will have a loss adjuster out soon who may even find some evidence of negligence on the part of next door.

Best to get a trusted local contractor out asap to do you a quote too, then things should get moving quickly.

Good luck.

Rockinbikergal

just had the assessor on the phone with us.....he is coming out tomorrow so I don't think they could have moved any quicker really....thanks again

dacouch

Be carefull if the Insurers try to direct you to their own contractors for the building work as they are often very poor especially if your with Aviva or Saga as they send Asprea who are really bad.

mcjordi

theres a few threads on asprea on here take a look op

Rockinbikergal

Thanks guys....we are in NI and the insurance company says we pay nothing until we agree that there is any work that is required, the assessor is just to make sure there is no structural damage....we think we have a problem with the flue in the fire and are now considering moving to oil or gas rather than paying out a lot of money to replace something that will probably be blocked off once me sell it which we hope is soon........we think we may have had a lucky escape as things are drying out and boxes of things I thought were ruined wern't so there may not be a need to claim for contents....I think it was just initial panic considering the amount of work and amount of time and effort my husband and I have put in to getting the place ready to go on the market )) I really do appreciate the help you have given