Flooded Property

TripleH

Good evening, I would like some advice on a recent incident in the block of flats where we live :

- Pipe bursts in first floor flat in our block whilst owner is away for Christmas.
- Our carport underneath gets 'flooded' ie water is coming down the walls
- The Flat behind our carport on the ground floor floods as water comes in through the ceiling
- We are owner occupiers of our leasehold flat,
- The 1st and Ground floor flats affected are both leasehold but rented out.

We intend to pursue the Management company of the block about any structural damage to the property. I understand that they are not responsible, we do not believe we have suffered any financial loss (that we are presently aware of) but I want to 'pass it to them' that any possible damange to the structure of the building is investigated or at least have it recorded that we asked them to investigate.

The main issue is the ground floor flat that was flooded, (we are helping the tennant as English is not her first language). Their letting agents told them that they should not be in their flat because it was water damaged, the electrics had to be turned off, fire alarm wasn't working and that they should go and stay in a hotel that they may or may not be recompensed for (the word I believe they used was inhabitable).

The issue here is that they do not have contents insurance (I know not ideal but...) Their letting agents have told them to claim on their (non-existant) insurance for this, but I think the Agents are just being lazy.

My questions are

- Should they not be putting a claim against the landlord of the flat that flooded or as they have no insurance, no claim can be made?
- Who should they (with our assistance) be chasing to get work done to sort out their flat? (Eg de-humidifier to get the place dried out)
- Should they be chasing the Agents of the landlord who owned the flat that flooded to start taking action or chase their Agents to chase their landlord and leave to them?
As their letting agents have informed them the flat is 'inhabitable' should rent be witheld or claimed back once things have been resolved and agreed with the repairs?

I know what we would do if our flat was the one that had been flooded but this is outside my knowledge and I don't want to be giving the wrong advice.

Many thanks for any advice anyone can provide, please ask if any points need clarifying or if you have further questions.

Slithery

It depends on why the pipe burst.

If it can be proved that someone was negligent, ie poor maintenance, leak observed but not reported, inadequate materials used etc. then that person would be liable. If, however, no-one was negligent then it's up to the ground floor flat to claim on their insurance. If they don't have any then I'm afraid they gambled and lost, just as if they'd been burgled with no insurance.

If the flat is indeed uninhabitable then either the LL has to pay for replacement accommodation while the flat is fixed or the tenancy can be deemed as 'frustrated' meaning it ends immediately and the tenant can look for another property to rent.

anselld

Do you mean inhabitable or uninhabitable?

The person responsible for the repair of the flooded flat is the Landlord. It is up to them is they claim on insurance, pursue the upstairs owners or just get on with it.

Any claim against the upstairs owners will only succeed if they can be shown to have been negligent. eg heating left off during a cold snap. If it is just a random plumbing failure and they happened to be on holiday they are not negligent and not liable.

Returning to the flat in question, if it is UNinhabitable and cannot be made habitable in a reasonable timescale then the tenancy is frustrated and the tenant will need to find somewhere else to live.

If the L intends to repair in a reasonable timeframe then they shoudl either provide alternative accommodation or rebate te rent for the duration of repairs.

TripleH

Yes that is my worry. I understand the leak was in a flexi-hose between the boiler and the sink of the first floor flat (where the leak occured).

The occupants were overseas for 2 weeks and it took 6 hours after we noticed the flooding for the agents to get into the property. Fortunately the water to the first floor flat was turned off outside then.

As to what caused the leak / any negligence etc, that is outside my scope of knowledge at thisa point.

anselld

TripleH wrote: »

Yes that is my worry. I understand the leak was in a flexi-hose between the boiler and the sink of the first floor flat (where the leak occured).

The occupants were overseas for 2 weeks and it took 6 hours after we noticed the flooding for the agents to get into the property. Fortunately the water to the first floor flat was turned off outside then.

As to what caused the leak / any negligence etc, that is outside my scope of knowledge at thisa point.

Flexi-hoses are prone to random failure. Very unlikely to be any negligence.

TripleH

Anselld, the tenant was informed the flat was Uninhabitable by their letting agents.

At present they are living in the flat. I understand that the electrics have been checked and ok'd for use and the damage is mainly due to the structure of the flat. The only real impact to them is damp clothes (that we have been looking after for them and airing and some damage to some carpet they had for their dog to sleep on. All major issues are to the property itself.

TripleH

Yes, that was my thinking, I believe this problem has been confounded by simple bad luck with the tennant of the first floor flat being away for Christmas (I suspect they will have a bigger issue when they actually get back).

Slithery

TripleH wrote: »

At present they are living in the flat.

Why? If it's been declared uninhabitable then the LL should be either arranging alternate accommodation, paying for them to stay in a hotel, or frustrating the tenancy.

TripleH wrote: »

The only real impact to them is damp clothes. All major issues are to the property itself.

In that case what are they worried about? It's up to their LL to sort out and pay for all of the repairs, claiming off his own insurance. It probably wouldn't be worth claiming on their insurance for their clothes even if they did have it because of the excess (unless we're talking high-end designer gear).

anselld

TripleH wrote: »

the damage is mainly due to the structure of the flat.

Depends what you mean by "structure". Ceilings, plaster finishes, decor and furnishings, yes. However a short term leak will not cause structural damage to brickwork, timber, etc.

TripleH

Anselld, would that include concrete (forgive my ignorance)?

I don't think it would, my concern is that I have a nagging doubt that there may have been historical flooding involving our carport and as much as anything I am thinking about creating a paper trail to show we actually pursued the issue more so to demonstrate an element of due care and attention.

anselld

TripleH wrote: »

Anselld, would that include concrete (forgive my ignorance)?

I don't think it would, my concern is that I have a nagging doubt that there may have been historical flooding involving our carport and as much as anything I am thinking about creating a paper trail to show we actually pursued the issue more so to demonstrate an element of due care and attention.

Concrete would not be affected. However, you are right to press the Feeholder/Management Company to fully assess any damage to the building as a whole.