insurance refusing to pay

northernsoul

Hi
Next door has had a problem with water overflowing out of the guttering and down the front of my property and theirs. This has been happening for 2 or 3 years. It is the end house collecting the water from 3 houses. My house is slightly higher and has a seperate gutter.
Earlier this year i noticed plaster coming loose and mould growing in my entrance. i have spoke to the owner a few times and he has made it better but still it leaks. Last time when i told him it had caused damage he did not want to know and closed the door on me.
i contacted my insurance company and they said that has it has been caused by someone else i have to personally claim off them. They are not interested, and say he should pay it out of his liability insurance.
I got enviromental services to look at it and it looks like they are going to get the owner or the water company to sort it, whosever problem it turns out to be. probably the water company because i believe it is blocked underground.
Their legal department did advise me, though, that the insurance company should pay and then claim back.
Is this correct?
To further complicate things, i renewed with a different insurance company a few days later.

hugoshavez

northernsoul wrote: »

Hi
Next door has had a problem with water overflowing out of the guttering and down the front of my property and theirs. This has been happening for 2 or 3 years. It is the end house collecting the water from 3 houses. My house is slightly higher and has a seperate gutter.

Were you with the same insurer for all of that period? Did you ever contact them when it first began?

northernsoul wrote: »

Earlier this year i noticed plaster coming loose and mould growing in my entrance. i have spoke to the owner a few times and he has made it better but still it leaks. Last time when i told him it had caused damage he did not want to know and closed the door on me.
i contacted my insurance company and they said that has it has been caused by someone else i have to personally claim off them. They are not interested, and say he should pay it out of his liability insurance.

There could be a misunderstanding here. There are a few reasons that your insurers could decline to pay this claim, but the fact that someone else is responsible isn't one of them.

northernsoul wrote: »

I got enviromental services to look at it and it looks like they are going to get the owner or the water company to sort it, whosever problem it turns out to be. probably the water company because i believe it is blocked underground.

Well done, if a little belatedly.

northernsoul wrote: »

Their legal department did advise me, though, that the insurance company should pay and then claim back.
Is this correct?

Your insurers should have investigated your claim, and not just dismissed it out of hand. But they would be within their rights to deny it if:

1. The gutters were failing before your policy with them began.
2. The damage is judged to have occurred from a cause that was gradually operating.
3. If they have a strict definition of escape of water, which doesn't include water escaping from rainwater goods.
4. If they decide you haven't taken reasonble action to resolve the issue over the last few years.

northernsoul wrote: »

To further complicate things, i renewed with a different insurance company a few days later.

This isn't really relevant, but as noted above the chances of pressuring your old insurer into paying for any part of the repairs are slim. Of course, if you call them and kick up a stink, they may well send a loss adjuster to see you, and you never know; they may make an offer.

The priority must be to keep the pressure on environmental health and the water co though.

bouncydog1

Your insurance is unlikely to respond as they will deem it to be gradually operating cause and insurance is to cover the unexpected. Do you have legal expenses cover anywhere - if so I would see if you can use this to bring a case against the owner of the other property.

If you don't, then I would get a quote to repair the damage to your property and then write to the owner of the property that has caused the damage, asking for details of his insurers. Then write to them including the quote and setting out why you are holding him liable. If he won't co-operate then you will have to take legal action against him to get the repairs to your property done.

You should get the repairs done anyway because if you have existing damage to your property (which you appear to have) in the event of a claim that is covered under your insurance policy, you may have issues in getting insurers to settle because of the pre-existing condition of the property.

northernsoul

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately, other than asking the next door neighbour to do something about the leak, because there was no sign of damage, i did not contact my insurance company until i saw some.
Last year i changed insurance company but for several years before that i was at the same company(ie now just started on my 3rd insurance company in 3 years).
Maybe they refused because i said it had been going on for a while (cant remember exactly what i said), i think i would have indicated.
I think the gutters were failing before the policy started and it was a gradual cause and i didnt consider it serious because i could not see any damage to my property.
This is one of the disadvanges, i guess , of changing companies.
Its a shame, because next door is wholly responsible for the damage, although maybe i should of reported it earlier to the insurance company, even though i saw no sign of damage. So i suppose they could say i did not do enough to limit any possible damage.
I have legal cover and will use this

quotememiserable

northernsoul wrote: »

Hi
Next door has had a problem with water overflowing out of the guttering and down the front of my property and theirs. .........
get the owner or the water company to sort it, whosever problem it turns out to be. probably the water company because i believe it is blocked underground.

How can an underground blockage cause water to flow out of a gutter? No way is the water company responsible for that one

northernsoul

the water had nowhere to go ie down the downpipe into the underground pipe then into the drainage sytem beneath the road. Because the underground pipe was damaged and therefore blocked (by the utility or cable companies digging up the pavement) it therefore backed up to the guttering and came out of the end of guttering down the front of my house. This was 3 house roofs full so at times quite a lot overflowed