Leak from my place ruining downstairs neighbour's ceiling - Insurance.

spudgun00

My neighbour an I both have freehold of a house. I own the upstairs and he owns the downstairs.

He came back from a big holiday to find out that there were all these brown stains on his ceiling. He also claimed a crack appeared on a beam.

The source appears to be my bathroom / shower as it's directly above it.

The year before, not long after I purchased the place, there was a leak. I got it sorted out with a plumber outside of insurance and got his ceiling painted all out of my own pocket.

So anyway back to this years issue. The areas in question are in a similar place but a lot worse. I got a plumber around and he said it's likely down to grouting, silicon failing over time. the floor is damaged, the wall which the tiles sit on a damaged etc. I rang up my insurance to make a claim which I have with John Lewis.

They said that with excess I can source the problem and get the issue address. I have pursued this. Regarding my neighbours issue, the insurance company said they won't fix his ceiling problem necessarily. They said his insurance company would need to contact my insurance company and the legal people would sort this out.

I told him this. He texted me to say that they (his insurnace) want to charge him excess and it would be cheaper to repair in private. I replied that it's down to the insurnace companies to sort out and that I'm not personal liable for this being shared hourse, floor, ceiling, pipes and it's not negligence.

My question is: What liability do I have with my neighbour? My insurance company says not to admit any guilt and leave it down to insurnace companies. I just want to do what is fair and reasonable here.

mchale

spudgun00 wrote: »

I just want to do what is fair and reasonable here.

In that case you pay any costs your neighbour will incur to complete the job & not leave him out of pocket.

spudgun00

But you have to consider that this problem may have been from a long time ago. If this was from a fault based negligent issue (ie: bathwater overflow) - fair enough, but this could have been on issue that has taken some time to accumulate over the years.

mchale

Sorry, water from your property caused damage so I would say its your responsibility to pay for any damage, things perish over time, its you job as owner to make sure they dont cause damage to yours or anyone elses property.

need_an_answer

Do you have any buildings insurance jointly with your neighbour for the property?

My understanding is that you would each contribute to the premium and then be covered for damage or incidents that happen that are buildings related.

If you don't have a joint policy and each have your own then I assume that you would be responsible for the repair to the damage within his property as it has originated from yours.

What your neighbour does need to clarify with his insurance company is the excess that they want to charge him.
Essentially what his insurance has said is correct but what normally happens is his insurance will put him at blame until your insurance company admit liability which they should do but its a bit like a car insurance claim where until liability is established the claim remains in the hands of the policyholder.

How much is the downstairs repair expected to cost?
Is it more than a standard excess?
I would probably suggest the answer is yes.


Just completed a flat above to flat below insurance claim where we are the downstairs flat and to trace,fix replace and repaint the bathroom ceiling and make good the bill came to just over £1000

I guess if you don't want to pay the repair bill that's up to you but you have to live in close proximity to eachother so the more cordial you can keep it the better.

Nobbie1967

Legally you are only liable if negligent which doesn't sound like the case here. Morally, I would be inclined to pay their excess unless if it is a reasonable amount since it was caused by a fault in your property and the neighbour's done nothing wrong.

Ithaca

The reason your neighbour has (or should have!) home insurance is to cover this sort of event.

Unless you have been unreasonably negligent (and there is quite a high bar for you to have been unreasonable) I don't believe you are under any *legal* obligation to contribute to the repairs (either directly or through your own insurance). If your neighbour's policy does not cover ceiling repairs that is down to their choice of policy (i.e. still not your problem legally).

In the interests of maintaining a good relationship with your neighbour you may choose to offer a financial contribution however.

spudgun00

need_an_answer wrote: »

Just completed a flat above to flat below insurance claim where we are the downstairs flat and to trace,fix replace and repaint the bathroom ceiling and make good the bill came to just over £1000

So how did this process happen? eg: did the upstairs neighbour's insurance company pay excess?

Rambosmum

When this has happened to me before I claimed on my insurance, paid my excess then my insurance company claimed it all back from the other insurer, including my excess, which I then got back.

elonii

I've had this happen to me twice on a flat I've owned for about 15 years. Both times I have paid the neighbours excess / redecorating costs if less than excess as a goodwill gesture. Your neighbour will have to pay an excess if it's all being put through insurance. It's your call - you aren't legally obliged to do it if there's been no negligence.

pramsay13

We had a similar issue when we were the upstairs flat.
The downstairs flat claimed on their own insurance and I paid them the £100 excess although not legally obligated to do so. I felt that was fair and reasonable.