Rotting floorboards in leasehold flat - can I claim ?

shaneym

Hello guys, just wondering if anyone could give me any advise before I go through the mindfield of ringing the insurance company. I own a ground floor maisonette flat which is leasehold.

Basically, today I noticed the floorboard in front of my kitchen sink was a bit spongey to stand on, so I lifted up the floor tile and to my horror saw the floorboard was soaking wet and crumbling. I traced the leak back to the sink cupboard which has a wooden bottom and back panel. I ended up ripping these out as it was the only way to see the floorboards in this area. To my further horror the floorboards under the sink cupboard were totally rotted , as is the back wall (plasterboard I think ?)and there was a hole the size of a football there. There was water dripping constantly from a pipe.

We had no idea this was going on, but seeing the state of the floorboards it may have been going on for months or even longer - but there was no way we could have known this as the leaking pipe was behind the cupboard housing and the rotting floorboards were under the bottom of the kitchen unit. No water ever dripped forward to the main kitchen floor or else we would have known. We called a plumber who was able to stop the leak easily but now we have the problem of the rotting floorboards.

My question is, is there any chance at all this would be covered by my buildings insurance which I pay to the freeholder. We pay this to the freeholder via an estate management company every year and all I get is a sheet of paper saying the policy number and the company, Ageas. I never get a booklet saying what is or what isnt covered - is this only for the freeholder ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just want to be prepared as much as I can before I ring them.

Thankyou

phill99

As the damage appears to be as a result of a leak, you would normally be covered (escape of water). This would normally cover removing and replacing the floor, water damaged cupboards etc. I won't cover the cost of actually fixing the leak.

wially

who is your insurer? some have an exclusion for rot, whether you were aware or not.

hugoshavez

Your freeholder's block policy will typically be quite loosely underwritten and the claims are probably not examined too closely.

They may well just ask you to send in a couple of estimates.

It's highly unlikely, whatever the outcome that making the claim will have an effect on premium anyway so there's no reason not to try.