we flooded neighbours advice please...

blueskies10

aliasojo wrote: »

Of course. I'm not saying it's your fault, please don't think that.

I just think it dreadfully unfair that someone else should be so badly affected by another and seemingly have little recourse.

Contents insurance isn't compulsory as I'm sure you'll know and most of us wouldn't consider getting insurance just in case a neighbour affected us.

I'm sure if the tables were turned you'd be expecting your losses to be covered.

and i totally understand that she has damage, but like i said there was no way of knowing the tank was going to leak. We have no extra money, why should we save money each month just incase a situation like this arrises and a neighbour decides to not bother with home insurance to cover damages?

zzzLazyDaisy

They may not be able to claim against your insurance, but they can claim against you. There seems to be no doubt that the damage to their property was caused by water ingress from your flat. That makes you responsible, whether you were negligent or not. The question of insurance is a bit of a side issue in that respect.

If they were to get quotes for restoring the damage and make a claim against you in the small claims court (upper limit £10k from 1st April) my money would be on them winning the case.

Is it possible to come to some compromise? For example, could you/your OH go round and do the decorating for them?

EDIT (for information) If you google the case "Rylands v Fletcher" you will see that it is a long held principle of English law that you are responsible for things (including water) escaping from your property and resulting in damage to your neighbour's property

aliasojo

blueskies10 wrote: »

and i totally understand that she has damage, but like i said there was no way of knowing the tank was going to leak. We have no extra money, why should we save money each month just incase a situation like this arrises and a neighbour decides to not bother with home insurance to cover damages?

I understand your pov. It's a difficult situation for sure.

However how would you feel if a neighbour 'flooded' (for want of a better word) your place and ruined your flooring and then told you they weren't paying for the damage?

If they didn't have money to fix the damage (which is fairly likely, most people cancel house insurance because they can't afford to keep it up not because they just don't want it) then they are stuck living with a wrecked floor whilst your place is pristine again.

If it were me and my insurance refused to pay out, I'd have to pay to fix the neighbour's damage myself. Purely for moral reasons.

blueskies10

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

They may not be able to claim against your insurance, but they can claim against you. There seems to be no doubt that the damage to their property was caused by water ingress from your flat. That makes you responsible, whether you were negligent or not. The question of insurance is a bit of a side issue in that respect.

If they were to get quotes for restoring the damage and make a claim against you in the small claims court (upper limit £10k from 1st April) my money would be on them winning the case.

Is it possible to come to some compromise? For example, could you/your OH go round and do the decorating for them?

thank you for your advice but we are just managing to make bills etc each month so have no idea how we will get the money for repairs straight away. is there any legal way we can arrange some kind of monthly payment if needs be? i would rather have something in place that has been legally signed. i dont want it to be our word against theres if you know what i mean.

blueskies10

aliasojo wrote: »

I understand your pov. It's a difficult situation for sure.

However how would you feel if a neighbour 'flooded' (for want of a better word) your place and ruined your flooring and then told you they weren't paying for the damage?

If they didn't have money to fix the damage (which is fairly likely, most people cancel house insurance because they can't afford to keep it up not because they just don't want it) then they are stuck living with a wrecked floor whilst your place is pristine again.

If it were me and my insurance refused to pay out, I'd have to pay to fix the neighbour's damage myself. Purely for moral reasons.

but this is the thing i have no money. i get nothing from the government just the wage i earn as a working parent of 2 children which pays for bills and food. this is why im asking for advice because i know something needs done but im unsure of how to go about it when i dont have any cash to pay for hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

dacouch

blueskies10 wrote: »

thank you for your advice but we are just managing to make bills etc each month so have no idea how we will get the money for repairs straight away. is there any legal way we can arrange some kind of monthly payment if needs be? i would rather have something in place that has been legally signed. i dont want it to be our word against theres if you know what i mean.

Your home insurance includes liability cover which will be worded along the lines of "for sums you're legally liable for". This would as previously mentioned be for issues you have been negligent in. It will also cover the costs should the neighboor take you to court including the award.

If you make any payments it's vital that you make them "Without prejudice" as it could potentially make you liable when you're not which might not go down well with your Insurers.

Insurance for flats carries a loading because escape of water such as this are fairly common. For the couple of quid a week a contents insurance policy would cost or considerably less if you go for a basic policy through the council, anyone not taking it is not being prudent

Tomby1

I would personally (in your siutation) not offer them any money towards redecoration but offer them a day (or more) of your time to help them with any redecoration that needs to be done.

Although it is their fault for not having insurance, it was (accidentally) your own issues that caused the mess in the first place, so its only right as a good neighbour that you at least offer a helping hand.

aliasojo

blueskies10 wrote: »

but this is the thing i have no money. i get nothing from the government just the wage i earn as a working parent of 2 children which pays for bills and food. this is why im asking for advice because i know something needs done but im unsure of how to go about it when i dont have any cash to pay for hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

I hear you. My OH has been made redundant, I know first hand what it's like when money is tight. I honestly do feel for you.

zzzLazyDaisy

blueskies10 wrote: »

thank you for your advice but we are just managing to make bills etc each month so have no idea how we will get the money for repairs straight away. is there any legal way we can arrange some kind of monthly payment if needs be? i would rather have something in place that has been legally signed. i dont want it to be our word against theres if you know what i mean.

There is no legal way that you can insist on her accepting payments by installments, if that is what you mean?

If you come to an amicable arrangement between you, then it would make sense to record the agreement in writing.

If it went to court and she won, then you'd have the opportunity to produce a SOA to the court and ask the court for the opportunity to pay the debt by installments. Of course this would result in a CCJ against you and damage your credit record.

On the other hand she may just give up and try and sort the mess out by herself.

blueskies10

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

EDIT (for information) If you google the case "Rylands v Fletcher" you will see that it is a long held principle of English law that you are responsible for things (including water) escaping from your property and resulting in damage to your neighbour's property

I am in Scotland not England does this still apply?