Neighbour Water leak coming into my cellar

Killa_byte

Hi,
Not sure if someone can help.
Basically I have water leak in my in my cellar that is seeping in through the wall near the ground, which i am having to mop up around 3 times a day.

I have had a plumber and builder come out to investigate and they both have traced it to a supporting wall below my living room boards.  They both wanted to get on the other side of the supporting wall, which is the neighbours property. 
We went to the neighbour and told him what the issue is and if he is having any leaks/less water pressure.  He said no and said everything is fine for him.  We then showed him what the issue was at my house and builder asked if he could lift his floors so have a look and see if the leak if coming from their house and he refused.  He said he had just put laminate flooring down a few months ago and didnt want it lifting.

I am not sure what to do.  Builder advised me to go through insurance as it is going to be a big job i.e he has to support the supporting wall to remove bricks and trace it further.
Builder also said to research and find out what to do if a neighbour has a leak but is refusing to fix as its not damaging his property but it is damaging mine.

I am just wondering if anyone has any advice or knows what is covered by home insurance?  ( I do have Buildings & Content from MoreThan, and i think excess is £350 for escape of water but not sure what they say when it comes to fixing a neighours leak?)

Can anyone help?

unforeseen

At the moment it is only being investigated by you/the builder.
I can understand the neighbours refusal. If it were me I would expect there to be an agreement to put the floor etc back to the condition that it currently is after this investigation. 

At the moment it is only supposition that the neighbour has the leak. He is not suffering any of the symptoms you asked about so cannot be refusing to fix something there is currently no proof of

Killa_byte

To be honest we just dont know where exactly the leak is coming from, all we do know is that the leak is coming from behind my supporting wall and we cannot look behind this wall without the builder supporting it.

I am just wondering what MoreThan would say if i went ahead with the builder to take out some of the supporting wall and we then find out it "was" the neighbours leak afterall.  Would I still be covered? etc

lesalanos

You will get the right answer by asking MoreThan rather than some random people online 

baldelectrician

Ask your neighbour who he is insured with
Contact the local water board- they may be able to come and inspect- they have a legal duty to minimise leaks (and may suggest a water meter to him if he is being wasteful)
This may also give you evidence of a leak from his side- useful for insurance purposes.
You may have to write to him (recorded) if the leak persists so he cannot deny you told him at a later date.