Buying a house without surveyor - what right do you have in case of the problems?

Filq

Hello,

I've bought the house this year without surveyor.I have found recently that bathroom wet floor made 3 years ago by previous owner is leaking and wooden space between bathroom on the first floor and dinning room below is all damp and molded. The defect was hidden and I noticed it only when I took down ceiling in order to install wiring for new lamps. 

Who's responsibility it is to cover costs of the repair? My, estate agency, seller or builder who made the bathroom?

Thanks,
Filip 

user1977

Your house, your problem.

Mizydoscape

Yours, your house insurance may cover the damage - check your policy. If the defect was hidden its unlikely a surveyor would have picked it up anyway. They don't have xray vision

Carrot007

Yours 100%. If doubt anyopne woould have noticed if it was hidden well enough.

Of course was it not as long you could have sued the seller but even then it would have been hard and cost a lot up front with not much hope of success.

Never trust that anything has been done competently without an invasive check of your own which can only be done after purchase.

Filq

user1977 said:

Your house, your problem.

Do you mean by that that only when buying from business I am covered by guarantee for the product?

user1977

Filq said:

user1977 said:

Your house, your problem.

Do you mean by that that only when buying from business I am covered by guarantee for the product?

If there were an implied warranty when buying a house, why would people spend money on surveyors and lawyers? It's up to you to check for any defects before you buy.

Mojisola

Filq said:

I've bought the house this year without surveyor.I have found recently that bathroom wet floor made 3 years ago by previous owner is leaking and wooden space between bathroom on the first floor and dinning room below is all damp and molded. The defect was hidden and I noticed it only when I took down ceiling in order to install wiring for new lamps.

It's unlikely that the seller would have known about it and a surveyor wouldn't have found it either if nothing was visible before you took the ceiling down.

Filq

Thank you all. I will contact my insurance company and ask them for the advice. 

Irishpearce26

This is the joys of home ownership, the cost and liability fall onto you. You may be able to claim on your insurance but that will put your premium up as well as any excess you need to pay.

AdrianC

Filq said:

Thank you all. I will contact my insurance company and ask them for the advice. 

Your buildings insurance won't cover it. It's a pre-existing fault with the house from before the policy started.

TBagpuss

As others have said, it's your house and your responsibility.

It's possible that the sellers were not aware of the issue.

In some cases, for some kinds of work, here may be guarantees, and these can sometimes be passed on to a buyer, but you would know as you would have had the details when you bought. 

As you don't have a contract with whoever installed the bathroom, you don't have any grounds to sue them, even assuming that you could show the damage was due to defective work.

And it doesn't sound as though it is something your insurers would cover as it appears to be a preexisting issue,