Who's insurance pays

sbrlk

Hi, I'm hoping for some good advice. I have had a company in replacing an old back boiler system with a new combi boiler system in a property I bought but havent moved into yet. Was quoted 4.5k for what they said was a 2 day job. A week later wasnt completed. Went down to see property on saturday to find bedroom ceiling collapsed and significant water damage. Neighbor told me she has seen water pouring out of house and had looked up company to phone them. They arrived and shut off water. They didn't phone me. Took it up with the boss of the company on monday and he said plumber said that the flood came from a bad seal on water tank in loft and must have happened when he refilled the water tank on thursday before leaving the property and therefore was a pre existing fault and I'd have to claim on my own insurance. I know the tank was drained earlier on in the week and had been told it was going to be redundant as new combi is connected to the mains so cant understand why he refilled it and in any case arent they supposed to check things like seals. They did remove the immersion tank from cupboard. Do I have to contact my insurers to take this up or is there something else I can do? I dont think it's fair I have to claim and my premiums go up especially when there was no evidence of any leaks before the company undertook this work. Also if they wont pay to repair all the damage do I still have to pay the full amount for the work. I dont even trust the work they have done is safe. I will be grateful for any help on this.

[Deleted User]

You want paying, so you claim from your insurer.  Nobody else's insurer will give you money.

Your insurer might then try and get their money back from the plumber's insurer, depending on whether there is evidence of whose fault it is.

grumbler

Deleted_User said:

You want paying, so you claim from your insurer.  Nobody else's insurer will give you money.

Well, one may have no insurance. In this case they can claim from the builder/tradesperson who caused the damage and the latter can claim from their insurer if they have one.

Of course, the tradesperson can refuse to pay, in which case a small claims court will be the only remaining option, pretty realistic.

Bendy_House

Do you have Legal Protection included on your house insurance? Good! Well done!

Call up your own insurance, tell them you may need to make a claim, but that you 'suspect' the boiler installer may actually be liable - what do they think?! (Explain the details if they ask).

"And, how much will this actually cost me in 'excess' charges and lost no-claims discount, should I need to make this claim?"

Depending on their answer - if it's "Yes, that'll be £350 excess and premiums increased by 10% per annum for three years", or whatevs - then call up the boiler installer and explain to them - nice and matter-of-factly - the situation; "This claim will cost me £500 (or whatevs) over the next couple of years, through the excess charge and increased premiums. I'm pretty sure this was completely avoidable, as that water tank in the loft should simply have not been refilled as it was no longer part of the new system - please correct me if I'm wrong; a combi is a directly mains-fed boiler, and does not require that tank. So, regardless of whether that tank was 'faulty' or not, it should not have been refilled, and should actually have been isolated and, ideally, removed. So, I consider that your fitter was negligent. What do you think?"

Then take it from there.

If the insurance co says "Yes, we'll set the claim in progress, but you'll be liable for £X,", then that's the figure you present to the plumber.

If the plumber boss says "Yup, not problem, you make the insurance claim and we'll cover your losses", then ask for confirmation in writing.

If the insurance says "Based on what you say, we'll pursue the plumber", then you let them get on with it.

If the insurance co says "We'll set the claims in progress, but you'll be liable for £x", and the plumber says "Nah, we ain't paying anything", then you tell them you have LP, and you know how to use it. And, you do.

As you clearly seem to understand, this will be based on:

"I have had a company in replacing an old back boiler system with a new combi boiler system in a property I bought but haven't moved into yet."

And "Took it up with the boss of the company on monday and he said plumber said that the flood came from a bad seal on water tank in loft and must have happened when he refilled the water tank on thursday before leaving the property and therefore was a pre existing fault and I'd have to claim on my own insurance. I know the tank was drained earlier on in the week and had been told it was going to be redundant as new combi is connected to the mains so cant understand why he refilled it and in any case arent they supposed to check things like seals."

Pretty sure that's the way to go.

plumb1_2

As above but I’d wait until jobs finished and commissioned.

Section62

Bendy_House said:

"This claim will cost me £500 (or whatevs) over the next couple of years, through the excess charge and increased premiums. I'm pretty sure this was completely avoidable, as that water tank in the loft should simply have not been refilled as it was no longer part of the new system - please correct me if I'm wrong; a combi is a directly mains-fed boiler, and does not require that tank. So, regardless of whether that tank was 'faulty' or not, it should not have been refilled, and should actually have been isolated and, ideally, removed. So, I consider that your fitter was negligent. What do you think?"

"Ok, no problem.

A combi boiler can be mains fed, in which case it wouldn't be supplied from a tank in the loft for the purposes of supplying domestic hot water.

But that doesn't automatically mean the tank in the loft becomes redundant and should be isolated and, ideally, removed.

Because it could be retained to supply cold water to some appliances in the property.

Someone may have mentioned that quite often we can remove the cold water storage tank, but in this case it worked out better to retain it."

.....Possibly.

sbrlk

Thank you for all the really helpful comments, the tank in loft was discussed at begining of job as I said just to leave it once it was empty as it might be useful for storage. No appliances run from it. Shower is electric. In any case another guy from company came out and went up loft, could hear him swearing and he removed a load of pipework and drained tank. Said he had no idea why it had been refilled. He was to report back to the boss but that was couple of days ago and I've not heard from them. 

Bendy_House

Section62 said:

Bendy_House said:

"This claim will cost me £500 (or whatevs) over the next couple of years, through the excess charge and increased premiums. I'm pretty sure this was completely avoidable, as that water tank in the loft should simply have not been refilled as it was no longer part of the new system - please correct me if I'm wrong; a combi is a directly mains-fed boiler, and does not require that tank. So, regardless of whether that tank was 'faulty' or not, it should not have been refilled, and should actually have been isolated and, ideally, removed. So, I consider that your fitter was negligent. What do you think?"

"Ok, no problem.

A combi boiler can be mains fed, in which case it wouldn't be supplied from a tank in the loft for the purposes of supplying domestic hot water.

But that doesn't automatically mean the tank in the loft becomes redundant and should be isolated and, ideally, removed.

Because it could be retained to supply cold water to some appliances in the property.

Someone may have mentioned that quite often we can remove the cold water storage tank, but in this case it worked out better to retain it."

.....Possibly.

I did actually consider mentioning the remote possibility of this tank still being required, eg as an accumulator, but (a) the OP had already said they'd wanted it drained, and (b) I added a caveat in my suggested comment to the plumber in the form of a question, just in case of that very remote possibility.

But it's always nice to have my cheek-covering triple-locked.

plumb1_2

Seal on the water tank is bull poo.
You need to sort o
a time frame out what happened, did the pipes in the loft and hot water cylinder get removed before the water got turned back on ?
They could have left a cold feed not isolated that maybe was going to be re connected to feed the shower, one plumber not telling the other what’s been disconnected.

That plenty photos, gather timeframe of work progression. Get quotes for repairs.
Don’t pay any money until job finished, then speak to the boss. I would expect them to claim on their insurance. What ever the cost of repairs is withhold that amount and tell him it will be paid after the repairs are completed, either by his insurance or your separate contractor