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Leaking water from above in my flat - Advice needed
Isleman
Posts: 102 Forumite
The whole thing started around three weeks ago when my wife noticed water dripping through my bathroom ceiling fan .
We immediately went to the flat above and the tenants were very apologetic and said they will contact the letting agency about this.
I have contacted also the Management company ( Freeholder) and told them about this and they said they will contact the letting agency as well.
Next day the letting agency send a plumber and said it was a problem with the shower and it has been fixed.
Next evening my wife was in the kitchen and water start running through the kitchen light . Run upstairs again they confirmed they had a shower and asked them to call the plumber again which they did.
Next day the water stopped from the kitchen and the plumber said it didn’t find anything wrong which to be honest is hard to believe.
However the water did not stopped but was still coming through the bathroom ceiling at a slower rate though. Big yellow stains formed on the kitchen ceiling and in the bathroom .
After 2 -3 days some tiles came loose on the wall and big yellow patches appeared also on the hallway .
It is a long story with lots of e-mails and calls going back and forth to the Management agency but they said there is nothing they can do as this is the problem between me and the other apartments and they should not get involved in this.
They passed me the details of the building insurance company which I have contacted and they appointed a company to deal with the humidity and a loss adjustor.
The company came around couple of days ago and installed an industrial dehumidifier which they said should run for about 2 weeks.
The loss adjustor looked around at the damage and he told me there is an excess of £350 on the building policy which I have to fork out . Not only that I got all this damage and incredible stress but also I have to come with £350 from my pocket to pay for something that wasn’t my fault. Absolutely outrageous !
However my biggest problem is not those £350 but the fact that I am not sure yet that the water leaking source has been fixed.
The flat is a one bedroom placed on the ground level and above me I have two studio flats . Tenants are living in one flat but at the other flat nobody could be contacted or seen . The management company said they tried everything to contact the owner but they can’t trace him. They are adamant also that the problem is fixed at flat above me and they trying to say that the source may be from the other flat which can’t be contacted.
The original rooms had 3 metres high ceilings but they have been lowered when the conversion took place and wall the pipe works has been concealed in this and I think it can be accessed only by lifting the floorboards above my flat.
I have asked the management about pipe work plans and they said they haven’t got them and don’t know where they can be found.
I have tried to inspect myself looking through the ceiling fan hole in the bathroom and I noticed the insulation is soaking wet and the joists pretty much the same. So probably the problem was from the shower but it will take time until all the water clears from ceiling.
I really don’t know what to do anymore as it seems is nobody problems but mine and I don’t really know how should I take it from here.
The damage is now extensive and the wallpaper on the hallway is affected and stained and the door can’t be shut between hallway and bathroom as water is now infiltrated through the paint .
Any advice will be highly appreciated
We immediately went to the flat above and the tenants were very apologetic and said they will contact the letting agency about this.
I have contacted also the Management company ( Freeholder) and told them about this and they said they will contact the letting agency as well.
Next day the letting agency send a plumber and said it was a problem with the shower and it has been fixed.
Next evening my wife was in the kitchen and water start running through the kitchen light . Run upstairs again they confirmed they had a shower and asked them to call the plumber again which they did.
Next day the water stopped from the kitchen and the plumber said it didn’t find anything wrong which to be honest is hard to believe.
However the water did not stopped but was still coming through the bathroom ceiling at a slower rate though. Big yellow stains formed on the kitchen ceiling and in the bathroom .
After 2 -3 days some tiles came loose on the wall and big yellow patches appeared also on the hallway .
It is a long story with lots of e-mails and calls going back and forth to the Management agency but they said there is nothing they can do as this is the problem between me and the other apartments and they should not get involved in this.
They passed me the details of the building insurance company which I have contacted and they appointed a company to deal with the humidity and a loss adjustor.
The company came around couple of days ago and installed an industrial dehumidifier which they said should run for about 2 weeks.
The loss adjustor looked around at the damage and he told me there is an excess of £350 on the building policy which I have to fork out . Not only that I got all this damage and incredible stress but also I have to come with £350 from my pocket to pay for something that wasn’t my fault. Absolutely outrageous !
However my biggest problem is not those £350 but the fact that I am not sure yet that the water leaking source has been fixed.
The flat is a one bedroom placed on the ground level and above me I have two studio flats . Tenants are living in one flat but at the other flat nobody could be contacted or seen . The management company said they tried everything to contact the owner but they can’t trace him. They are adamant also that the problem is fixed at flat above me and they trying to say that the source may be from the other flat which can’t be contacted.
The original rooms had 3 metres high ceilings but they have been lowered when the conversion took place and wall the pipe works has been concealed in this and I think it can be accessed only by lifting the floorboards above my flat.
I have asked the management about pipe work plans and they said they haven’t got them and don’t know where they can be found.
I have tried to inspect myself looking through the ceiling fan hole in the bathroom and I noticed the insulation is soaking wet and the joists pretty much the same. So probably the problem was from the shower but it will take time until all the water clears from ceiling.
I really don’t know what to do anymore as it seems is nobody problems but mine and I don’t really know how should I take it from here.
The damage is now extensive and the wallpaper on the hallway is affected and stained and the door can’t be shut between hallway and bathroom as water is now infiltrated through the paint .
Any advice will be highly appreciated
0
Comments
-
Apologies I am not qualified to give advice, what follows is merely my opinion. This is what insurance is for, make a list of everything that is wrong and ensure the insurance company is kept up to date - it all stems from the one problem
In the short term you may need to pay the excess - did you take out legal cover when you took out the policy? If so, your insurance company will have a 3rd party which will endevour to get the excess back off the third party.Tim0 -
Unfortunately the insurance is not in my name but is a collective insurance which is taken by the Management company .Apologies I am not qualified to give advice, what follows is merely my opinion. This is what insurance is for, make a list of everything that is wrong and ensure the insurance company is kept up to date - it all stems from the one problem
In the short term you may need to pay the excess - did you take out legal cover when you took out the policy? If so, your insurance company will have a 3rd party which will endevour to get the excess back off the third party.
This insurance is included in the monthly service charges .
My major problem is that I can't trace where the leak is coming from and therefore I can't start the repairs until this is resolved.0
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