Problems after completion

Ivy82

Bought 2 bed apartment last week and when started to get decor quote we were made aware that there is a leak in bathroom. skirting board is rotten (water damaged) in the ensuite and adjacent wall, layer underneath is black and damp coming through the outside wall where the shower unit is placed.
1. Emailed solicitor with pictures and had no reply except that it is with litigation solicitor.
2. Spoke to building insurance company and received a reply today that the claim is not considered as we negotiated a deduction of 5k from the property sale price and that would cover the damage in the property.

I refute the reason on the basis of the rejection. Negotiating a price reduction is a normal part of buying a property. Almost all properties sold in UK are being negotiated between 5 and 10 per cent lower than the asking price irrespective of the condition and white goods. Whilst the seller accepted the property needed painting, has not made us aware of the leak in the ensuite which has only just become apparent. This damage is obviously as a result of a water leak and as such should be covered under the scope of the insurance. 1 leakage is found under the shower and plumber wants to open the junction box in the toilet sink to see if there is more leakage and this would cost more.

Should I go to insurance ombudsman? who would cover this cost, seller or insurance?

Comms69

Did you get a survey?

bobbymotors

With property, you bought it = you own it. The seller has no responsibilty at all, unless you specifically asked 'does the shower leak' and they replied 'no'. That's 'no' not 'not to the best of my knowledge'

no insurance will cover an existing fault.

Ivy82

The leakage from under the shower was there before and seller fixed it, it was a poor job thats what plumber said. And we asked few times why skirt board looks different, didnt see the black underneath as we have no clue, the seller cleverly said its wear and tear. Ensuite bathroom had damp in the ceiling and asked the seller if there was any leak at all, its a clear NO, as in never, atleast that time they should have said about past experience.

we didnt do individual survey, trusted mortgage survery.

Its an apartment and the property insurance was transferred, all such leakage should be covered

Barx

I trusted my mortgage survey too and didn't get an individual survey but this might be an issue for you as your bank will have a disclaimer stating that they won't be held liable if their survey is misleading or incorrect. It is only for them to determine if they can give you a mortgage.

k3lvc

Ivy82 wrote: »

we didnt do individual survey, trusted mortgage survery.

And here's your main issue - but even if you'd done a full structural survey and the issue wasn't visible without dismantling things then it wouldn't have been picked up and you'd have had no comeback


There's post after post on here from people (me included) who've found issues after completion and had to pay to sort them


Good luck if you manage to get better resolution than anyone else but I wouldn't be giving it too much time/energy (and specifically cash)

bobbymotors

With property, you bought it = you own it

Please read the above ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Cakeguts

You cover all the costs of repair in a property that you own. The time to get someone else to do it was before you bought it. If you couldn't get someone else to do it then you don't buy the property.

kinger101

Ivy82 wrote: »

The leakage from under the shower was there before and seller fixed it, it was a poor job thats what plumber said. And we asked few times why skirt board looks different, didnt see the black underneath as we have no clue, the seller cleverly said its wear and tear. Ensuite bathroom had damp in the ceiling and asked the seller if there was any leak at all, its a clear NO, as in never, atleast that time they should have said about past experience.

we didnt do individual survey, trusted mortgage survery.

Its an apartment and the property insurance was transferred, all such leakage should be covered

Did you get anything in writing?

Insurance doesn't cover damage as a result of poor maintenance.

Ivy82

Barx wrote: »

I trusted my mortgage survey too and didn't get an individual survey but this might be an issue for you as your bank will have a disclaimer stating that they won't be held liable if their survey is misleading or incorrect. It is only for them to determine if they can give you a mortgage.

I was advised the same, getting survey individually was a big additional cost to us and we weren't given guarantee, so decided not to do, also ours is a fairly new apartment and we had our friends who recently done a survey in that building.

Ivy82

kinger101 wrote: »

Did you get anything in writing?

Insurance doesn't cover damage as a result of poor maintenance.

I see two things here, its not poor maintenance, 1. when we specifically asked about skirting and leakage, seller was obliged to tell may be they had issues in the past that got fixed but skirting never changed, or say they dont know. but the seller was clear and said "no leakage or damage" its hiding information. 2. even if the seller isnt aware, we were made aware of the leakage from the plumber as soon as we got this property and quoted high cost for ripping off to do analysis, which should be covered by insurance. the source of the leak is the more trouble some area bathroom it would affect the condition of the property and might incur more damage if not done. the idea of the insurance is to put the client back in the position before the damage occurred.