Who is responsible for damaged contents in leashold property?

snufes

Hi. I own my own property but have a separate garage which is leasehold as there is a coachhouse across the top of 3 garages, one of them being mine. The coach house above is rented. 

Yesterday I went in my garage to discover the ceiling had collapsed and water was coming in. I notified the tenant who notified the landlord. The landlord came today to fix the leak, he looked at my garage and said once it was dried out he would come back and make good. No mention of any of the damaged property which resulted from the water leak. Is the only option I have to go through my insurance? Some electrical stuff (fridge, freezer ) has got wet and I’m worried about using it (they’re empty at the moment so not on). I am going to struggle emptying my garage (alot in there since downsizing after divorce). I would really appreciate some advice please. Thank you 

knightstyle

Claim off leaseholders insurance, that is part of what you pay annual charges for.

snufes

Thank you, but the owner doesn’t want to go through insurance as he will fix himself. We don’t pay any charges to him.

NinjaTune

snufes said:

Thank you, but the owner doesn’t want to go through insurance as he will fix himself. We don’t pay any charges to him.

Surely that would be down to your own content insurance then?  The owner is responsible for the structure of the building not your personal items, same as a leasehold flat.

eddddy

The key question is - was somebody negligent?

If the damage is the result of somebody's negligence, then the negligent person is responsible for your damaged contents. So the negligent person might be the tenant, or the owner of the coach house - or maybe nobody was negligent.

For example, if somebody let a bath overflow - they are probably negligent, so they should pay for the damage. But if a pipe started leaking unexpectedly, nobody is negligent.

If nobody was negligent, you have the choice of claiming on an insurance policy or paying for the damage yourself. The coach house owner probably arranges buildings insurance. But you would need to have arranged your own contents insurance.

HampshireH

Do you specifically have contents insurance on your garage which includes the storage of items.

Some policies do not include storage within a garage because in theory they are designed for a vehicle.

Definitely check the wording as they will try and get out of anything  

snufes

Thank you everyone, appreciated 

greatcrested

The resident tenant above might be liable for your contents ... if he was negligent - ie knew of the leak, did nothing, and allowed it to continue till the ceiling collapsed.

Likewise his landlord might be liable if he was negligent - ie his tenant informed him of the leak but he did nothing and allowed it to continue till the ceiling collapsed.

If no one was negligent - ie it was just 'one of those things' - then no one is liable so you claim on your contents insurance policy which is there for exactly that purpose.