buildings insurance and block management company HELP !!

Amee23_2

Hello
i am wondering if anyone can help.

i live in a block of flats (i own my flat) and last week my new upstaires neighbours had a leak from their new washing machine. this has resulted in cracks appealing in my front room cieling, the coving lifting in many places around the room and the carpet being runied. i contacted my neighbours and they are happy to help me get the problem fixed. we both have contents insurance and our buildings insurance is provided by our block managment company.

we are both first time buyers and our knowledge of insurance is poor. i called contents insurance company and they have sent a contractor to sort my carpets. i am now having problems with my buildings insurance and the ceiling. my block managment company have told me my ceilings are not covered by buildings insurance and the only way i am going to get it fixed is by getting my upstaires neighbours to pay for the damage. after speaking to a few people and researching online i have found this to be untrue.

am i correct in saying that the buildings insurance provided by my block management company should cover the cost of sorting the ceiling and the coving on the walls?

please help

Amee23

dogbot

Your block management company are wrong. The ceilings are part of the fabric of the building and are covered by the buildings insurance. The buildings insurance should cover escape of water from the washing machine.

You pay for the insurance though your fees, and usualy would have been provided with the full details of the policy and insurer. Contact them direct to make a claim, or follow what it says in the policy document. Chances are there might be some water damage to the ceiling joists etc that needs to be dried out, and your upstairs neighbours will want this fixed too if it is so. They might have to have a dryer in their flat for a while.

If they were negligent - i.e. failed to install the machine sensibly and correctly, then you have a claim against them (in practice, their contents insurer would deal, it is also very hard to prove and not in anyone's interest), but otherwise the buildings policy with cover it.

Amee23_2

i am going to have to go to the office of my block management company and get the insurance details. should be fun as these guys must be sick of us already !!

thanx for your help xx

dogbot

Good luck. I have to say I have never found a property management co anyone can say many good words about!

Make sure you check the wording carefully. You might be unlucky and the wording doesn't include washing machines, but this seems very very unlikley.

dacouch

The block policy probably has an excess of £250 or even more if it's an Aviva policy. The management companies often try to disuade claims because of this and that it can put the premiums up. It is also often because they do not understand insurance and / or CBA

PropertyRisks

As a leaseholder who makes a contribution to the Freeholders insurance costs, as you are obliged to do under your lease, you should be entitled to a copy of the policy schedule and policy wording. These documents will have to be sent to you by the management company. The reason they do not want you to claim is that your block of flats will probably be one of many that they manage and may have on a portfolio policy, placed via an insurance broker who in return for their business pays them a fairly large "introduction" fee. As all of the properties they manage are on one policy any claims made on any individual block will effet the whole policy premium, thus increasing everyone's premium who has the luck to be "managed" by the "management company!", and reducing the extent of their "fee".

Commercial property insurance is one of the most overpriced sectors of the industry as in most cases the person who controls the insurance, managing agent or commercial landlord, is not the one who pays the premium and as such it is prone to "introducer fees". To give you an indication a standard home insurance commission to a broker is betwenn 20-25% whereby commercial or block of flats pay 25-50% because there are other mouths to feed at your expense. Look at the option of getting together with the other leaseholders and forming a Right To Manage(RTM) Company and taking back the managment of the block to avoid this and other "managment company" charges.

Good luck