Water leak into downstairs flat

keystone

A new thread would have been nice really. This one's only three and a half years old.

Cheers

dacouch

phill99 wrote: »

So who is responsible? It certainly isn't the owners of the other 2 flats.

It depends on the exact circumstances.

Under UK law just because your pipe leaked and caused damage to the flat below does not mean you are legally liable.

For a court to rule against you (It is also the definition the Insurers would use for a claim under the Liability Section of a property policy) the flat below would need to show the damage was "Reasonably Avoidable". As a very general rule if you have maintained your property you have PROBABLY taken reasonable steps to avoid the claim. If the flat owner was aware there was a problem with the pipe and ignored it then they would probably be found to be legally liable as the damage was reasonably avoidable.

A good example of the taking reasonable steps are if you look in Mcdonalds toilets they have a rota which is signed and dated each time the toilets are checked and cleaned. The reason for this rota is if a customer slips of "Spilt" water in the toilet. Then providing Mcdonalds have checked / cleaned the toilets at regular intervals (Taken reasonable precautions) then the person who slipped is not likely to win a claim against them. The written rota acts as evidence for court as courts like physical evidence rather than someone just saying we checked the toilets reguarly.

So there is a reasonable chance the OP is not "Legally Liable" for the damage to her neighboors property depending on the exact circumstances.

Leaks causing damage to flats below is a fairly regular claim under property insurance. The normal advice is the flat owner below to claim on their own insurance and then leave it to their own insurers to see if they can reclaim against the flat above owner / their insurers.

OP / Phil you will probably find your home contents insurance provides free legal advice (The number is normally in your policy book). Give them a call and explain the circumstances and they will advise you


Before you mention about car accidents being reasonably avoidable they come under the Road Traffic Act which has different rules / laws on liability .