Shared Ownership Repairs & insurance

Kurenka

Hi all,


Sorry if these seems like a very basic question but I'm very new to all this and freaking out ever so slightly.


I purchased my first home 3 weeks ago, it was a shared ownership resale and the house is approx 8 years old.


Over the weekend I started to get water dripping in through 1 of the upstairs ceilings while we had a heavy period of rain.
I contacted the Housing association and I was told it didn't constitute an emergency so they couldn't do anything so I'd have to call back Monday morning.
I called this morning and now I'm being told that because the house is shared ownership I am responsible for all repairs and I'd have to bring in my own external contractor to look at it and repair it.
I have no issue with this but when I asked about the building insurance, which the Housing Association are in charge of and I pay for via Service Charge in my rent, the person I spoke to seemed to have no idea.
So if I have to get my own contractor out, I assume I would have to foot the cost for the bills then claim back through the buildings insurance to reclaim the cost?
Also as I write this another thought has crossed my mind, what kind of warranty should there be on the building such as the roof?
Many thanks for all and any help!
Matthew

HampshireH

It is going to depend on where the leak is coming from.

Have you established this?

I imagine you went through to customer services and if you said you had a leak coming through your ceiling the advice they gave is mostly accurate as could be from pipes etc.

However i would ask to speak to the maintenancr surveyor for your area.

The HA are responsible for repairs to the structure of the building under most SO agreements.

Cite your deeds to them if you dont get the desired response initially

davidmcn

Insurance is only going to be relevant if the leak has been caused by an insured risk (storm, burst pipe etc). You don't get insurance against normal wear and tear.

Marina2016

I have a shared ownership flat, you need to check the buildings insurance policy to see if the leak you mentioned would be covered. If it is you need to speak to buidings insurance company who will tell you what to do next. There is likely to be an excess fee to be paid.


If it is a leaky roof its unlikely to be covered and you would be responsible for the full cost of the repair- unless you live in a flat in which case communal repairs are the responsibility of the Housing Association.

InterestedParty2018

I would have thought the buildings insurance would only cover the damage caused as a result of an insured peril.

Warranty/NHBC cover would of course be different to buildings insurance paid via the service charge.

Have you established the cause yet? Over the last week, many areas in the UK have experienced huge volumes of rain in a very short period of time. If your guttering is not clear, and cant cope with the volume, it will hopefully be a one off. (get gutters cleared frequently!)

You should have a copy of the buildings insurance certificate (if not, request one immediately), then speak to the the insurer and get the correct guidance from them.

Please note, it is normally always the case that it is your responsibility to mitigate any further damage to the property - thus, I would suggest sourcing the cause asap and if applicable, arrange repair.

Kurenka

Thanks all for the responses.
I spoke with my insurer and they offered to get someone out but it would take several days, they were happy however for me to get an independant to at least come and look at the roof and snap a few pics.
Turns out it was all caused by a broken tile installed when the house was built, and they inserted a wooden peg to keep the broken tile in place. Something happened to make this peg shift hense water getting in.
Thankfully it was caught early and simply replacing the tile and a tiny bit of internal maintenance will do the trick, something that is under the insurance excess.
I will however be writing a strongly worded email to the Housing Developers for allowing something like this but I doubt anything will come from that.