Electrical fire damage - who's responsible?!

cassbass1981

Hello!
At the weekend there was an electrical fire in part of the communal area of the block of flats I live in. It looks like it was caused by a surge in the electricity box.
Anyway as a result it has caused damage to the central heating board in two of the flats - mine being one of them. The damage is going to cost £1000 each to repair.
The electricity board have said that they aren't responsible for any of this damage beyond the communal area. If I claim on my contents insurance I'll have to pat the first £250.
I've put a call in to the agent that manages the flats, because I'm hoping that it is covered by the buildings insurance.
Does anyone have any experience in this area and can offer any advice?
As you can imagine I'm very stressed at the thought that Ive got to find £1000 to fix something that happened through no fault of my own!

HappyMJ

The buildings insurance should cover the fabric of the building and your contents insurance will cover your contents.

These things happen. Its just one of those things. Nobody expects an electrical fire so you purchase insurance to cover it which you have. The policy you have requires you to pay the first £250. You could have paid a higher premium to lower the excess but when you took it out you opted to pay a lower premium. It's a gamble either way.

Alias_Omega

100% buildings insurance (if its rented property, landlord should cover) as if you tipped the flat upside down, the wiring and assosiated equipment would not fall away.

Dont worry about contents, they would only cover if anything was plugged in, such as Tv's etc.

Regards,

Alias

thegirlintheattic

If rented central heating will be the LL's responsibility as such he should pay and it should be covered by buildings insurance.

ROY47

you say

It looks like it was caused by a surge in the electricity box

what box? the main fuse unit , the meter ?

any more details than that ?

where exactly was the surge ? before or after the electricity meter or the meter itself ?

do you know any more info ? if not you need to find out more

lisyloo

do you know any more info ? if not you need to find out more

Why?
If it's not negligence then everyone just has to pick up their own bill.