Water damage from upstairs flat

Dellie21

So in the last 12 months we have had two separate incidents were water has come through our ceiling and walls in different areas of our bedroom. First incident had something to do with the toilet, took them three days to attend the property, water continued to leak. Tenants had told us that they had told the landlord on serval occasions.
Second leak was from loose pipe underneath the bath, it took them over a week to attend and stop the water. Tenants told us that they were told to pour chemicals down the drains as it was thought it would be a blocked pipe. Water that came through was yellow.
Landlord refusing to deal with repairs. Management company have told us we will have to pay for excess once we go through insurance.
Legally were do we stand with this, any advice will be grateful.

Pixie5740

Dellie21 said:

So in the last 12 months we have had two separate incidents were water has come through our ceiling and walls in different areas of our bedroom. First incident had something to do with the toilet, took them three days to attend the property, water continued to leak. Tenants had told us that they had told the landlord on serval occasions.
Second leak was from loose pipe underneath the bath, it took them over a week to attend and stop the water. Tenants told us that they were told to pour chemicals down the drains as it was thought it would be a blocked pipe. Water that came through was yellow.
Landlord refusing to deal with repairs. Management company have told us we will have to pay for excess once we go through insurance.
Legally were do we stand with this, any advice will be grateful.

https://www.lease-advice.org/article/water-is-leaking-from-my-neighbours-flat-and-damaging-mine-who-should-pay-for-it/

[Deleted User]

Best thing is to let your insurance deal with it. If they can find evidence that the landlord was negligent then they can claim the excess back (and their full costs) from them.

Proving it could be hard though. The other tenant is unlikely to be willing to give evidence against their landlord.

eddddy

So just to be clear - I assume...

• You're leaseholders
• The damage is to the buildings (ceiling, walls etc) - rather than your contents
• So you want to claim on the freeholder's buildings insurance policy

You should find out what the excess is for escape of water - it's likely to be a few hundred pounds

And if it was two separate incidents, you'll probably have to pay two excesses.

And two 'escape of water' claims in the same policy year is likely to make next year's premiums 'go through the roof' - and you'll have to pay your share of that.  (Plus it might make the other leaseholders a bit grumpy that you've made their insurance bill go up!)



You could try claiming a contribution to the costs from 'somebody' upstairs - either the tenant or the landlord - for negligence.

The basis of the claim being that...

• it was negligent to leave the toilet leaking for 3 days (couldn't they get a plumber, or put a tray under the leak, or turn off the water supply to the toilet?)

• And/or it was negligent to leave the bath pipe leaking for over a week and to put 'yellow chemicals' through a leaking pipe (again couldn't they get a plumber quicker, shouldn't they have stopped using the bath because it was leaking?)

But if the tenant and landlord both refuse to pay anything, you'd have to take them to court and prove negligence - which might be a challenge.

nicmyles

Having been the upstairs flat in this scenario, I would say that most normal people would contribute to or pay for repairs if asked, regardless of negligence, e.g. where an insurance claim has been made due to water damage from a pipe on our flat, we paid the excess. 

Maybe legally this wasn't necessary - to be honest, I have no idea. It's just being a good neighbour who might someday need a favour from your neighbours. So good to know your upstairs neighbour doesn't need any favours or neighbourly behaviour from you in future - act accordingly!

user1977

nicmyles said:

Maybe legally this wasn't necessary - to be honest, I have no idea. 

The legal position is explained above.

musehead

Perhaps the arrangement in my block of flats is unusual, but after claiming on the freeholders buildings insurance policy for water damage from the flat above (£500 excess), the excess is refunded to me by the management company from service charge funds. In effect, whatever buildings insurance excesses are charged are shared amongst all the leaseholders.

nicmyles

user1977 said:

nicmyles said:

Maybe legally this wasn't necessary - to be honest, I have no idea. 

The legal position is explained above.

I am saying I cannot comment on the accuracy or otherwise of that. I can only comment on how people generally rub along when living in flats.

eddddy

musehead said:

Perhaps the arrangement in my block of flats is unusual, but after claiming on the freeholders buildings insurance policy for water damage from the flat above (£500 excess), the excess is refunded to me by the management company from service charge funds. In effect, whatever buildings insurance excesses are charged are shared amongst all the leaseholders.

Sometimes leases (especially newer ones) will explicitly say who pays the excess. Maybe your lease says the excess is paid from service charge funds.


But let's assume the OP's lease is 'silent' on payment of excesses - but it seems that the Management Company says the OP has to pay the excess. If they won't back down, the OP has the hassle of taking their freeholder to court/tribunal.

The outcome depends on how the rest of the lease is worded - but apparently, tribunals often (but not always) rule that excesses should be paid from service charge funds. So it might be worth trying.

But if the OP loses, they'll have their own costs to pay, plus the freeholder's legal costs will be added to the service charge.


So it's a matter of assessing the risks, costs and potential benefits of each approach.