Water in the kitchen - insurance not interested

luckybert

I have water coming through my kitchen ceiling by the back door. This only happens when it rains. I've had the insurance company out but as usual they aren't interested - are thy ever?
I'm not sure if it's caused by next doors gutter and pipework as their house is joined to mine - it's a very odd set up as I live in an old cottage. It drips through and has made my wooden back door difficult to close, it has also caused the wooden door to discolour and for the paint/walls to start bubbling.
Just wondering what my best options are as I may be moving next year anyway so am looking for the cheapest option.

MorningcoffeeIV

Sounds like they're rightly not interested, as it's a maintenance issue. They'll understandably only be interested in insured events.

Best option would be to fix the source of the problem and then fix the door after that.

DullGreyGuy

luckybert said:

I have water coming through my kitchen ceiling by the back door. This only happens when it rains. I've had the insurance company out but as usual they aren't interested - are thy ever?
I'm not sure if it's caused by next doors gutter and pipework as their house is joined to mine - it's a very odd set up as I live in an old cottage. It drips through and has made my wooden back door difficult to close, it has also caused the wooden door to discolour and for the paint/walls to start bubbling.
Just wondering what my best options are as I may be moving next year anyway so am looking for the cheapest option.

You've mistaken insurance for a maintenance policy which it isnt.

Insurance covers off one of events from defined perils... a major storm rips off your roof? Tree crashes through the roof? Car loses control and drives into your lounge? These are events that most insurers will cover. 

Your property being old and the pointing failing overtime, guttering slowly filling up with leaves and other crud? These are maintenance issues that not only does your insurance not cover but you assure to your insurer that you are on top of dealing with. 

luckybert

So rain coming in isn't an insurance claim? and what if the rain is part of a storm?

Nearlyold

luckybert said:

So rain coming in isn't an insurance claim? and what if the rain is part of a storm?

If the rain was coming through because a "Storm" had damaged the structure of a well-maintained building i.e. blown part of the roof off or similar, then an insurance claim would be possible, however if rain is coming through during a storm because of an ongoing maintenance issue i.e. inadequate flashing, cracked or missing tiles due to age, pointing or flaunching in poor condition etc then the ingress of water when it rains is down to you to sort.  If you can't see the issue yourself, you'll need to engage the services & expertise of a reliable builder to diagnose the problem.

luckybert

I'll have to get my time machine working, go back to when there was a storm and see if it caused the damage. 

Brie

any chance it's something simple like clogged gutters overflowing?  a re-occurence might be prevented with netting over the gutters and a "hedgehog" protecting the opening to the down drain.  

Ebe_Scrooge

luckybert said:

I'll have to get my time machine working, go back to when there was a storm and see if it caused the damage. 

If it was storm damage sufficient to warrant an insurance payout, you'd have known about it - a large number of roof tiles blown off, for instance.

Just last week we had bad flooding in our village, a couple of my friends had what could best be described as a river running through their front doors, the main road was 4 feet deep in water.  That would be covered by insurance.

From what you've described I'm willing to bet it's a simple case of blocked gutters, maybe a bit of damaged flashing, perhaps a bit of re-pointing needing doing.  All of which are DIY-able if you're on a tight budget, but not expensive even if you have to get someone in.

Start with the gutters, that's the easiest of the lot to tackle.  Get them cleaned, make sure the joints are not leaking.  Most window-cleaners will clean gutters for just a few quid if you're not up to doing it yourself.

macman

This clearly hasn't happened overnight as a result of one 'weather incident', so quite why you think it is covered by your buildings insurance is baffling. Even if it was, the cost of fixing a leaky or sagging/blocked gutter is probably less than the level of your excess. This is just one of the many routine maintenance/repairs that house ownership imposes.
If it's been caused by your neighbour's actions or negligence, then you can sue them, but it's not recommended.