Joint building insurance whom pays excess

jkenn

I have been through many posts with this concern, but have not really found an answer. I am a joint free holder and have joint building insurance with the flat upstairs which is tenanted.
There was a leak from the upstairs toilet which I immediately informed the landlord with including pictures.

He took about 6 days to get the problem sorted which increased the damage from a decoration job to a job that now requires half the ceiling to be replaced.

Our excess is £250 and I am in the process of getting quotes. Who is liable for the excess. As joint freeholders with shared building insurance is it right I should be expected to pay half the excess?

The leak was from his toilet a leaky sealant. Whether it was negligence I have no idea i,e was the tenant aware of a problem but ignored it. All I do know is the landlord was slow in getting the leak resolved and I was having to do all the chasing, not only of the landlord, but the tenant to gain access and even the repair man.

I feel the excess should be paid by the upstairs landlord, but in I would like to know where I stand legally. If it were my flat that had caused the leak I would not dream of expecting the other freeholder to contribute to the excess.

Thanks

huckster

Depends on who makes the claim. If you are making the claim, you will end up paying the £250 excess. Unless you can hold the upstairs occupier liable through their lack of duty of care, then you won't have a legal claim. It will be the tenant occupying that would be responsible (if you can make the case), as they are living there, so can do something about a water leak.

You will end up paying the full excess, unless you get the landlord to make one insurance claim for damage to both flats. Then you can share the excess. The landlord making the claim jointly with you, is your best option, if you can achieve this. But landlord might not be bothered with insurance claim or damage to your flat.

Hope this makes sense. To clarify. Your claim = your excess. Joint claim landlord/you for both flats = you can share the excess.

EdGasket

Why not ask your insurer if they can pursue the excess or indeed the entire bill from the tennant/landlord of the other flat? Do you have legal cover included with your insurance? If so ask them the question and whether they'd pursue a claim for you.

Quentin

EdGasket wrote: »

Why not ask your insurer if they can pursue the excess or indeed the entire bill from the tennant/landlord of the other flat? Do you have legal cover included with your insurance? If so ask them the question and whether they'd pursue a claim for you.

Your own insurer won't pursue the other side for the entire bill unless you make a claim with them first (otherwise they have nothing to issue a claim for)

You cannot use legal cover that is included in your insurance to pursue a claim that is covered by your own insurance - they will only pursue uninsured losses