water leak in flats/insurance

Elfbert

Hi everyone,

I've never had to make an insurance claim before, and just wanted to check I'm doing the right thing!

A leak occurred in my block of flats, staining my ceiling and flooding my bathroom floor.

The leak has now been traced to a specific flat.

I had to pull up all the vinyl in my bathroom to try to get the room to dry out, and currently it seems that the soundboarding may also have to come up/be worked on, as it has swollen and has ridges in it now.

Am I correct in thinking that I make claim on the building Management's Buildings Insurance? And if they then want to try and claim money back from the owner of the flat that's their business?

And do I need to allow them to specify contractors to do the work, if they want to, or do I get it all sorted myself and present them with the bill?

Obviously I have asked them, but they're not exactly being helpful...

Thanks in advance!

huckster

Yes you need to contact the management company to arrange for a claim on the Buildings Insurance for the flats. You should be able to get your own contractors quotes and if these are competitive you can use your own contractor.

The flat owner where the leak occured won't necessarily be liable, as that would depend on negligence being proved.

You should really get hold of the Buildings Insurance details and details of the claims procedure i.e can you contact them directly to make a claim. Also you should check your lease as to what you are responsible for, as sometimes the internal walls, floors etc are the responsibility of the flat owner to insure. If this is the case you can normally ask your Contents Insurers to cover the interior of your flat for an amount and the Insurers will normally charge a premium rate similar to Building Insurance rates. So there is a chance the interior of your flat not being covered by the block of flats Buildings Insurance and your are not presently covered for what has happened.

dacouch

What you describe is normally classed as a buildings claim so would be handled by the buildings management company.

You may find they try and persuade you not to claim as they tend to receive a lot of escape of water claims on flat insurance so the management companies often try and talk you out of it to keep the premiums down.

There will generally be an excess of circa £300

The Insurers will normally want to use their own contractors

ChumpusRex

This is from personal experience, with a near identical situation.

This is what the block buildings policy is for. So, you need to contact your buildings management company and ask to make a claim.

Usually, with this sort of policy, the policy excess is substantial. In my case it was £750.

There will be no liability for the flat owner where the leak originated from. Water leaks are an accident (unless negligence can be proven which is very rare).

Also note that block policies are buildings policies, not contents. So, they will pay for damage to your ceilings and walls - but not carpets, furnishings, etc.

The insurers were quite happy to let me use my own contractors, they just wanted 2 quotes. They then paid the amount of the lower quote minus the excess, and minus the cost of new carpets.

If your loss on furnishings/contents is sufficient, then you could claim off your own contents policy. Don't expect to be able to claim off any other policy; if the source of the leak was not due to negligence, then there is no realistic liability for you to pursue.

Elfbert

Thanks everyone!

So, now I have the policy and the excess is £1000, as far as I can tell, for escape of water/burst pipe.

Does this mean I won't get anything off anyone? They've sent me insurance forms etc. to fill out, which I've done. I don't believe the damage is worth more than a few hundred, although I'm not a flooring expert!

I only have contents insurance, who say as the only damage is to the vinyl floor, they won't cover it.

I've also heard the flat the leak came from is in a very bad way - the people who lived in it only came back from a month away yesterday, and the whole place sounds like it's soaking/full of mould. So although the leak wasn't their fault, it obviously became an issue because they weren't there to notice it was happening!

Quentin

If an insurance claim is pointless because of the excess, then you won't get any payment from anyone else unless you can prove negligence by the third party.

missile

The insurance contract must be displayed in communal area. You can make a claim yourself, you don't need "approval" of management contractor.


£1000 excess seems high. On our policy it is only £100.


I would challenge your contents insurance policy. Contents is anything which can be removed and that would include vinyl flooring but not the sound boarding.

Elfbert

I shall just wait and see how it pans out then - expect to get nothing, and I won't be disappointed

I think it will depend on how the claim is done - all damage from the single leak as one claim? Or each damaged flat a different claim? And whether they will push for negligence as it's quite possibly an illegally sub-let flat, which was unoccupied for some time.

Anyway, I've put all the paperwork in, so can only wait.

Thanks for all your help, everyone.

huckster

Elfbert wrote: »

I shall just wait and see how it pans out then - expect to get nothing, and I won't be disappointed

I think it will depend on how the claim is done - all damage from the single leak as one claim? Or each damaged flat a different claim? And whether they will push for negligence as it's quite possibly an illegally sub-let flat, which was unoccupied for some time.

Anyway, I've put all the paperwork in, so can only wait.

Thanks for all your help, everyone.

You should look into whether it is possible to take out separate Insurance for the interior of your flat, so you are not in this position again. Find out what is covered in your flat under the block Buildings Insurance and then speak to your Contents Insurers about covering the elements you are not covered for. If they are not helpful speak to an Insurance brokers.

Each flat damaged is going to be an individual claim I would think, so a separate excess applied. But speak to the management company about this, as it could mean that you don't have cover for damage below £1k, due to the excess.

Elfbert

Yeah, I shall talk to my contents insurance and see if they offer some sort of interior-cover.

Still no word from anyone involved - management/freeholders/building ins. companies are so rubbish! And it is a very convoluted bunch of companies involved, as I've been finding out.

Still, at least everything is drying out now...