Pipes burst, estate agent has all sets of keys, who is liable?

stret91

My girlfriend has inheritted a house which is 100 hundred miles away from where we currently live. Every set of keys was automatically handed over to the estate agents following her grandfathers death and she has also signed a document with the solicitors to give permission for them to act on her behalf. The solicitors deal with the estate agents and any matters that arrive with the estate.

This winter the pipes have burst in the unoccupied house and caused extensive damage, in the region of £10,000+. This was due to the water not being switched off.

I am just asking if anyone has any advice, has been through this situation or knows of any legality in where she stands.
Who is responsible or liable for the damage? Would the house insurance cover this? and if not who should have to bear the costs?

David

Doozergirl

You can try insurance but with the house being empty, they would normally request that all services are drained down as a condition of cover. Of course, it's worth checking.

Otherwise, I'm afraid that it is the owner's responsibility regardless of who has the keys. We had a few posts like yours over the winter where rental properties were left empty and keys with estate agents. They are marketing the property, they're not responsible for it's maintenance.

swingaloo

I would have thought that as your girlfriend now owns the property she would be responsible. Had she insured the property?

sonastin

Sorry to say but I think it is probably down to your girlfriend:
1) unless she gave the EA explicit instructions to drain down the water system as part of the service they were offering, it is something that they would normally expect the vendor to take care of.
2) if the property was being left empty, insurers will expect the water system to have been drained down and the water to be shut off. As this appears not to have been done, they're unlikely to cough up.

G_M

stret91 wrote: »

My girlfriend has inheritted a house....

Every set of keys was automatically handed over to the estate agents following her grandfathers death and she has also signed a document with the solicitors to give permission for them to act on her behalf. The solicitors deal with the estate agents and any matters that arrive with the estate.

Has she actually inherited? Has Probate been granted?
Either the house belongs to the Estate (in which case the Executers of the will are responsible), or probate has been granted in which case he new owner (girlfriend) is responsible.

If the agents have been instructed, and paid, to take responsibility for the property, there may be liability here.

As for insurance, read the policy. Does it cover water damage? Does it have an 'unoccupied' exemption? If so, how is 'unoccupied' defined? (usually 30 days max, or 45, or 60). How long has it been empty (ie more than the policy allows?).

Sounds like either the Executers or the new owner were remiss in not checking that adequate insurance was in place and/or the policy terms were not complied with. Unless the agent was specifically tasked with insuring, it would be hard to hold them liable.

Properties need looking after (especially in winters like the one we've just had!) and those responsible (Executers/owners/tenants/etc) will pay the price for ignoring those responsibilities I'm afraid.

stret91

Probate has been granted.

It has been unoccupied for over a year now with regular viewings, where by the estate agents would conduct these viewings.

Also the solicitors and my girlfriend signed a document letting them 'act on her behalf' with any decisions made for the property. A new insurance policy has been taken by the solicitors (most likely a renewal of the old policy). She is not sure on the full terms and conditions of the insurnace policy and will have to get in touch with the solicitors to find this out. They (the solicitors) are currently waiting for a decision to be made by the the insurers as to whether they will cover the damage.

BitterAndTwisted

Estate agents aren't property managers. The owner should have taken all sensible precautions to protect the property against damage. Disconnection from the water supply and draining it down would have been one of them