Leak from flat above - getting complicated!!

artysaz

Hi

I really hope someone can help me, I'm about tearing my hair out...

I bought my basement flat two years ago. For about a year I had no problems with the flat above but when the tenants moved out of there, the owner got in some cowboy builders to redo the bathroom. I had an initial leak through to my bedroom and had to call the police to break the door down upstairs and they discovered the stopcock hadn't been turned off properly, hence the leak. We let the owner know and left it at that. Following that, the waste pipe into our garden blocked, spewing waste directly outside our house. The owner from upstairs (it was his blockage) eventually got it fixed but at the same time, the leak in our bedroom started again, this time with raw sewage coming through. Since then, it has been a constant battle of water/sewage/urine coming through the ceiling. I've have constantly updated the owner of the above property and eventually, he took the number of a local plumber from me (the owner lives about 40 miles away) and let him in. The plumber reported back to me that he wouldn't touch the job with a barge pole as, in his words 'the parts looked like they came out of a kinder egg' and the work was appalling (he didn't want the job). There were leaks under the sink, the toilet and shower. He said the whole thing needed ripping out and replacing. He did his best to tighten everything and plug up with silicone but he couldn't guarantee from future leaks and true enough, we had two big leaks of pure urine directly onto our bed. We have moved out of the bedroom and the carpet is now getting destroyed as well as the ceiling and we need a new bed.

Another branch of the story is that the top flat (above his) has been vacant for a number of years (up for sale) and there is a leak coming from the roof and down the side external wall, which the owner of the above property believes is leaking into his property and damaging his ceiling.

The owner of the above property, whilst having kept in touch with me, keeps changing his story. He agreed to getting my ceiling fixed on his insurance but since then, he has told me his insurance is not accepting liability because of previous issues of leaking from the top flat above his. He is now keen to get into the top flat with his plumber to see how far the leak has progressed.

Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what he is up to. He is going to try and blame the top flat leak for the damage going into my bedroom, when I know for a fact that the leak into my bedroom is coming directly from his bathroom as it's waste and we had no problems with leaks until he redid the bathroom upstairs.

He promised me that a plumber would be in his property this week to rip out the bathroom and replace it but of course, there have been no workmen at the property.

The whole situation is very upsetting as we just can't seem to move any further forward. This has been going on now for 6 months.

I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me what I should do next. I don't know whether to now phone my insurance and try and claim via them. The plumber who went in is willing to give me a written statement as to the state of the work carried out in the bathroom upstairs. But can my insurance force him to replace his bathroom? I'm also not sure of the situation with the roof leak, I take it we would all be liable for this and is this something I could claim on my insurance?

Sorry to have gone on but I'm going around in circles and getting more and more upset about things.

Please help!!!!

Thank you.

InsideInsurance

At the end of the day your insurance can only deal with the damage to your property. If the root cause is in his bathroom then your insurers repair the ceiling and then next time they flush the toilet your ceiling comes down again and you have a new claim again.

Do you have legal expenses on your Home insurance? If you do it may be better to speak to them about your options and see if a solicitors letter encourages them to act. The solicitors can also advise if getting an injunction to force repairs is realistic or not.

artysaz

Thanks very much for your reply. I had the feeling that might be the case with my insurance but I wasn't 100%. That's the reason I've been trying to cooperate with the owner above as it would be a nightmare to get the ceiling fixed to then have it come through again. You would think it would be in his best interest to sort it at his end.

Sue27_2

One option would be to add up the cost of all the damage so far (uninsured cost) inlcuding your time and then talkign to the landlord and explaining what it has cost you. Say that you cannot keep going with this expense and that if he doesn't get things fixed you would need to get the money back from him and any future damages. Start putting this in writing. If he refuses you can then start saying that you would have to consider a small claims court action. There are lots of guides to how to make small claims but he has obligations under things like the party wall act to not cause damage to your property. You need to give him a chance to put things right (and document giving him a chance) and put things in writing before taking him to court. Talking about a small claims court and the party wall act might make him take things more seriously. If he does take things more seriously ask him for a deadline when he can get things fixed by.

artysaz

Thanks very much for that, I will certainly begin writing it all down. I have been taking photos of everything that's been happening and I will also document it as per your advice and collate all emails etc. I will add it all up, it will certainly be interesting to see how much it has cost me so far. He did pop down over the weekend with another plumber, so hopefully things will progress but I'm not holding my breath!

cherylypop

Hi,

My friend and also my dad's partner had similar problems-although they weren't living in their properties so water damage had happened over a matter of weeks. Both of them spoke to their Councill's Environmental Health and/or Building control departments-I think they can serve notices on landlord to make him do something-because it could be unjsafe/hazardous to your health. Might be worth a try and shouldn't cost you as much as going through solicitors-although I don't think it was a quick process by any stretch of the imagination...

Good luck-it sounds like you have the patience of a saint managing to have (what sounds like) very civil conversations with this landlord....