dilemma local authority or home insurance to claim from

sporty1

I am in a dilemma 3am this morning I was awoke to a noise which I finalyy located it was coming from the combi boiler in the bedroom it had a terrible leak coming from the return valve there was water everywer carpet was soaking etc I went downstairs to get a bucket to catch the water only to find that it had gone through the floor and into the hall ceiling which was badly bellowed due to the excess water accumulating there was water dripping all down the walls in the hall and the ceiling was in a terrible state, I emmediatly rang the 24hr emergency local authority who said turn of at mains and ring back at 8am which I did at 8 am they said it was reported and the job was on route 5.15 pm a plumber turned up to rectify the leak soi was left approx. 14 hrs without water toilet facilities etc.
whilst waiting through the day the liason officer from the local authority came out took a report of the incident and said they would pass it on to there insurance ..now at the moment I am left with soaking wet wool carpet in the bedroom which stinks of contaminated boiler water, soaking wet wilton axminster carpet in the hall which stinks the same! and ceiling in the hall ruined with water all down which has bubbled were water is behind it also the hall walls are the same, amongst also the curtains etc soaking wet, now were do I stand regarding this do I ring my own house insurance up or do I wait until the local authority do something and HOPEFULLY they will foot the bill for all this damage and in the meantime surley I cant be expected to leave these carpets down for weeks as the liason officer hasn't mentioned anything regarding taking the carpets up and they absolutely stink and will never dry out as the underlay etc is soaked through,can anyone advise please ireally feel as though the local authority /liason officer wernt bothered and it will drag on for weeks ,in the meantime I cant sleep in this bedroom with this smell , also the hall carpet is soaked and the same smell the whole house is left with an awful smell because of these soaked carpet/walls/ceiling
many thanks

vaio

Generally the LA won't be liable unless they were negligent. Having a leak in their equipment isn't negligent unless they knew it was likely to leak and did nothing about it. Presumably they do the required annual gas inspection?

For speed and given the distress it's causing you're probably better off claiming on your own insurance and your insurer will recover the costs from the LA if it turns out they have been negligent

dacouch

vaio wrote: »

Generally the LA won't be liable unless they were negligent. Having a leak in their equipment isn't negligent unless they knew it was likely to leak and did nothing about it. Presumably they do the required annual gas inspection?

For speed and given the distress it's causing you're probably better off claiming on your own insurance and your insurer will recover the costs from the LA if it turns out they have been negligent

With the Home Insurers paying claims on a "New for Old Basis" (Normally excluding clothing & linen which are indemnity) against the LA who will normally pay contents claims on an "Indemnity" basis eg they deduct "Wear and Tear" from settlement values

cattie

A friend who rented from the council once had a leak whilst on holiday & the ground floor was under inches of water as a result. The local authority arranged for contractors to come in & dry all the carpets & furnishings etc. out.

Luckily a key had been left with a neighbour who was looking after the cat & thus neighbour was the one who alerted the council about the leak.

Anyway, when my friend returned from holiday about 10 days later, you never would have known her carpets etc. had been flooded as the contractors had done a really good job. I think if you have good quality carpets, there is no reason why professionals can't restore them to their former glory, so don't lose heart.