Help, who's responsible ?

nottslass_2

Hi,I'm currently a council tennent,so therefor I only have contents insurance,not buildings .

Anyway to cut a long story short,my washing machine had developed a slow leak which seeped under my kitchen floor tiles.
Abbey (my insurers) have confirmed that they will settle the claim in respect of the floor tiles and replace them,no problem.

The trouble is that the concrete floor under the tiles needs to be professionally dried out, but have said as this would normally be covered by buildings insurance they are unable to settle this part of the claim.

The council have said that they won't pay for this and said its my responsibility.(surely they have buildings insurance to claim under ?)
Help, does anybody know if there's anything that I can do,I cannot afford to pay for the drying out of the floor .

mattymoo

As I understand it the council are responsible for the shell of the building, you are responsible for everything else including floor coverings.
Councils do not tend to bother with buildings insurance and self insure instead.

If I was you I would speak to Munters (leaders in this field) and see what their normal approach is in relation to council properties.
http://www.munters.co.uk/en/uk/Contact/MCS/

Debt_Free_Chick

I hope you don't, but you might have a bit of a battle on your hands.

The damage to the council's property was caused, albeit indirectly, by you ... as it's your washing machine.

Ideally, you should have "tenant's insurance" which covers not only your contents, but any damage you cause to the Council's property. Look into this straight away ... but I think this is the line the Council are taking.

clear_blu

I would ask the council for a letter stating that you are responsible as a tenant for the damage question. Send that to the insurance company and explain that you are covered under the 'tenants liability to the owner of the building' section. It is standard that all contents insurances have this cover and I would be very suprised if they turned you down. If the council argue about supplying a letter explain that you need it to get the damage repaired.Hope that helps.l

nottslass_2

Thanks for the prompt replies.
It seems that all tenants could in fact be in a no win situation,I obviously cannot take out buildings cover on a building that I do not own, and in the event of accidental damage,which would normally be covered by buildings insurance, a tenant could in fact be left with potential repair bill of thousands.

clear_blu wrote: »

I would ask the council for a letter stating that you are responsible as a tenant for the damage question. Send that to the insurance company and explain that you are covered under the 'tenants liability to the owner of the building' section. It is standard that all contents insurances have this cover and I would be very suprised if they turned you down. If the council argue about supplying a letter explain that you need it to get the damage repaired.Hope that helps.l

Thanks for that,hopefully this will do the trick - I'll get on the phone strait away !

Debt_Free_Chick

nottslass wrote: »

Thanks for the prompt replies.
It seems that all tenants could in fact be in a no win situation,I obviously cannot take out buildings cover on a building that I do not own, and in the event of accidental damage,which would normally be covered by buildings insurance, a tenant could in fact be left with potential repair bill of thousands.

Not so. If you have "tenant's insurance" it covers you for YOUR possessions (contents) and any damage to the buildings, for which you're responsible - even if it's accidental (provided you opt for accidental damage to the LL's building).

Re clear_blu's post - I wouldn't just assume that your contents policy includes accidental damage to the LL's building. It depends on whether this is a feature of the contents policy you bought, or not.

A tenants contents policy usually does cover this as standard.

A "normal" contents policy may, or may not.

What does your policy say?

nottslass_2

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Not so. If you have "tenant's insurance" it covers you for YOUR possessions (contents) and any damage to the buildings, for which you're responsible - even if it's accidental (provided you opt for accidental damage to the LL's building).

I didn't realise there was such a thing as "tenants insurance" ,should i have been advised of this when i took the policy out ?
I was offered the councils own insurance but this particular policy didn't give me the cover that I wanted

clear_blu

The section to which I referred is the liabilities section of a contents insurance and covers loss or damage to the buildings for which you, as a tenant, are legally responsible.I am not aware of ANY standard contents insurance that does not carry this cover, however it is a couple of years since I retired and someone may have sneaked one in. So look at the policy or ring the insurance people. If they say this section is not included please post the company name so we can warn tenants about it.