House guest flooded the bath; water seeped through the floor to the downstairs flat

Dragon_of_Consumer_Power

I was woken this morning by the Fire Brigade at 9:45. A friend who is staying for the weekend was running a bath at 9am this morning, and had then gone into the lounge to make tea. During said tea-making he managed to scold himself, and subsequently forgot that the taps were still running. Consequently, the water had seeped over the edge and onto the floor - he reckons for about two minutes.

He mopped up the water as swiftly as possible, but by then it had already seeped through the wall/floor, downstairs. The upshot is that the woman's flat below is now uninhabitable for 2-3 weeks while they de-humidify it, and while they let the electrics dry out. She hopes that most of the water will dry out, and that the electrics will also be fine once dry, but obviously we're worried that the damage may be more extensive.

In terms of existing water damage, her bathroom ceiling may need replacing, she says, as the plaster has fragmented. She also says the water went into her airing cupboard (near to the bathroom), causing damage to contents, and to the electrics.

Our present flat is currently leased through a letting agent from a private landlord. The flat is in a building of 13 others, all of which seem to share the same letting agent (although the woman downstairs owns her flat, having just bought it from someone else, and she'll presumably rent it out).

How do you think insurance will regard this? I need to contact the landlady/letting agent to find out what cover they/we have, but as it's a weekend I wanted to gauge the MSE experts' advice in the interim!

huckster

The neighbour downstairs has to claim off her own policy and her Insurers may then try to reclaim any outlay from the Insurers of your flat. So let the neighbour know this and give her your Insurance details to pass on to her Insurers. If she has to pay an excess, she will also need to try to claim this back from your Insurers or if she has legal expenses cover, they will do this for her.

Let the Insurance companies handle it, as otherwise you will just complicate matters. Often in these cases people feel morally responsible, but Insurers look at legal liability.

Make sure you lift any flooring in your bathroom to make sure it drys out properly.

TSx

It will be your contents insurers that need to handle this (if any - I'm not sure if you'd be automatically liable when it was your guest who caused the damage) as they insure your personal liability as occupier of the flat.

As huckster says, she needs to go through her own insurers, they will deal with any recovery from you, and if you receive any letters regarding it, pass them straight to your contents insurer.

Dragon_of_Consumer_Power

Thanks guys. I haven't taken out contents insurance here (I only moved in September, although that's not enough of an excuse), so would the landlady's (presumed) insurance cover this side of things?

Buzby

Not a chance unless the flat was furnished! Without any cover, you become fully liable for the error of your house guest. This means you will have to pay the full costs of reinstatement, and (hopefully) recover this from the guest that caused the problem.

The LL will have Buildings cover to protect her investment, but not contents, which will only be covered if the flat was furnished and with an accidental cover extension. It is very much a long shot, but all you can do is ask.

Dragon_of_Consumer_Power

OK. But wouldn't the flat owner downstairs use her insurance to cover the damage? How does furnishing affect things?

FlameCloud

Buzby wrote: »

Not a chance unless the flat was furnished! Without any cover, you become fully liable for the error of your house guest. This means you will have to pay the full costs of reinstatement, and (hopefully) recover this from the guest that caused the problem.

The LL will have Buildings cover to protect her investment, but not contents, which will only be covered if the flat was furnished and with an accidental cover extension. It is very much a long shot, but all you can do is ask.

The presence of an insurer will not change the liability of the op, it will only affect who pays the claim.

In any event the third party would need to prove negligence against the op, she is not automatically liable for it.

geri1965_2

I'm not sure the OP would be liable at all for the actions of a house guest.

huckster

geri1965 wrote: »

I'm not sure the OP would be liable at all for the actions of a house guest.

Correct they are not liable. The neighbour downstairs will just have to make a claim and try to pursue the OP's house guest. Letting a bath overflow is a personal liability issue and therefore the neighbours Insurers might try to recover their outlay from the house guest. If the house guest does not have any Insurance to cover themselves , then I suppose if liability is proven (doubtful) it will prove to be a very expensive bath.

Dragon_of_Consumer_Power

Thanks guys. He doesn't have any personal liability insurance. How much, roughly, do you think this could cost? I know it's hard to be sure without seeing the specific damage, but we're looking at replacing the plaster on the bathroom ceiling, some damage to contents in the airing cupboard, and possibly water damage to the electrics.

phill99

For gods sake. Another example of people that know nothing about a subject offering their ill informed opinion.

If its a block of flats, there will be a 'block policy'. This is paid for via the service charge and covers the BUILDINGS. Therefore the damage to the downstairs flat, and the subject flat will be covered by the same policy. It's classed as 'escape of water. House guests will not be chased by insurance co panties and flogged to within an inch of their lives as some of you are suggesting.

CONTENTS insurance will be held by individual flat owners. If the lady downstairs has had damage to furniture, carpets, clothing, electricals etc, she claims for these on her contents policy. It is very unlikely that her insurers will come knocking on your door to recover the costs.