Damage after Exchange

Aeroman

I am some help and advice!!,

We moved house last month, when we eventually received the keys from the estate agent, we went straight round ( about 5 minutes after getting the keys ), opened the front door and was greeted with water pouring through the kitchen ceiling, !!!!!!. the toilet cistern had been cracked and flooded the bathroom and landing, poured through to the kitchen and hall.

I have tried contacting the vendor but have not received a reply,

where do I stand legally ?, as I understand it, we were responsible for the property from exchange, but on the other hand the property was not in the same condition on completion as when the exchange took place??

Do we have a chance of claiming through the small claims procedure ??,

repairs are approx £800.00

Thanks

Aeroman

silvercar

you claim on your building insurance that you took out when you exchanged.

I would wonder when the problem had appeared and when the leak started. I would have thought the previous owners should have made temporary repairs if nothing else.

If you are saying the previous owners did this deliberately then I don't know if you have a case for wilful damage to your property. The burden of proof would be yours.

jamminjamaica

thats awful. the last thing you needed. you could seek advice from your solicitor.

never_enough

You should've contacted your solicitor that day. If you have not already done so then do that asap with full details. I'm not sure how you stand now, as you will need to prove it had happened prior to your completion. I assume at least you have invoices or something dated from that day?
At the least your insurance will cover it, but you may be able to get the vendors insurance to cover it as they should have had insurance until the day of completion too.
It's a horrible thing to happen. Hope you get it sorted.

Mrs_pbradley936

A similar thing happened to my sister years ago. They were moving in the middle of winter and the vendor moved out a few days earlier and turned the heating off. My sister walked in to burst pipes, flood, ceilings falling in and all the rest. The solicitor did nothing but she had to claim off the insurance. Because she had two small children at the time they paid for her to go into a hotel for a few days until she had some heating back on. Not sure what would have happened if just adults. Anyway she got the house redecorated and new carpets as well.

desperadoV2

ohhh. That's awful. Did you speak with your agents and asked them about it? I think its the agent's/solicitor's responsibility to make sure the house is in good condition during the exchange.

What happens if the whole house is on fire on exchange date? what then?

Is there anything one can include in the contract to protect themselves?

Cara79

What did you do on the day of completion? Did you contact your solicitor? What did they say?

How have you tried to get in contact with the vendor? This should probably have been done by your solicitor to their solicitor.

Did you report it to your insurance company at the time? I would have thought you'd need to go through the insurance company for this.

Good luck and let us know.

Cara

advent1122

If you still have the receipt I would take the house back and get a refund.

the_postman_2

advent1122 wrote:

If you still have the receipt I would take the house back and get a refund.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

kathyd_2

the_postman wrote:

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Me too :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Aeroman

Hi all

Thanks for your replies, Yes I immediately contacted my solicitor, and the Estate agent, Solicitor contacted vendors solicitor, who would contact his client blah blah, no response. estate agent contacted the vendor who said ''will sort it out'', but now no response !!!!!.

My insurance will pay out, but not for the cause of the flood, only the damage + I have an excess / increased premiums.

Basically I feel the vendor should be responsible, frustrated at the moment.

Aeroman