Issues after completion of property sale

DavePower

Son & his partner moved into their first house on Friday (16th Dec) following lengthy house purchase sale. After posing on the front door step with big grins they opened the front door to water pouring through the ceiling from the loft and no electrics, they were heartbroken literally. We managed to fix the leak and sort the electrics fairly quickly but there is extensive ceiling, carpet and will paper damage not to mention unseen damage and energy usage to dry out the property.

My question is the pipe was obviously leaking before completion and i have photographic video damage. Phoned their solicitor and they didn’t want to know plus they weren’t particularly interested lat on Friday, unprofessional. Id appreciate advice on if they have any claim against the sellers or indeed if its worth pursuing?

Many thanks in advance.

Alter_ego

Obviously leaking??

housebuyer143

DavePower said:

Son & his partner moved into their first house on Friday (16th Dec) following lengthy house purchase sale. After posing on the front door step with big grins they opened the front door to water pouring through the ceiling from the loft and no electrics, they were heartbroken literally. We managed to fix the leak and sort the electrics fairly quickly but there is extensive ceiling, carpet and will paper damage not to mention unseen damage and energy usage to dry out the property.

My question is the pipe was obviously leaking before completion and i have photographic video damage. Phoned their solicitor and they didn’t want to know plus they weren’t particularly interested lat on Friday, unprofessional. Id appreciate advice on if they have any claim against the sellers or indeed if its worth pursuing?

Many thanks in advance.

Did they view it before exchange? Why would they complete on a house with "obviously leaking" pipework?

Chances are it's burst in the cold weather but regardless you have no comeback at all. That's why you insure the property from exchange. Claim on the insurance, think of it as a nice way to do the house up for free (obviously it's very upsetting now) and move on.

silvercar

Which country? Scotland has different laws on this topic. 

If England or Wales then normally it is for the buyer to claim on their insurance unless the sellers were negligent. You could argue that in this cold weather the heating should be on at a frost avoidance level or the water drained. One to discuss with the solicitor Monday I would think.

MalMonroe

Hi, I do agree that this really is heartbreaking, especially as they were so happy posing on the doorstep of their first new home. As well as it being a week before Christmas when everyone wants to just settle down at home. What a terrible thing to happen.

But I would also have to ask what proof there was when you say "the pipe was obviously leaking before completion". It probably did happen because of the cold weather (last week was extremely cold in the UK), as housebuyer143 says above. And I do hope they were insured. 

I think it's worth pursuing with the insurance company but sadly, don't think anyone else will be interested. The sellers were probably quite unaware. I find it difficult to imagine that any seller would be so callous as to leave a property knowing that pipes have burst and water is ruining the place. It IS an awful thing but thankfully your son and his partner have you to help them. Also it's very probably 'just one of those things' that happens when you're a home-owner. Not very comforting though, sad to say.

At least you were there to help and that will mean a lot to your son and his partner.

macman

No comeback whatsoever I'm afraid.It's caveat emptor.
Was the property left empty between occupiers for a number of days with the heating off?
If so, more than likely that a pipe in the loft burst when thawing to earlier freezing temperatures.

webjaved

Did they insure the property? 

If so, you can claim on the insurance. If not you don't have anything to claim on. Before signing the papers for completion you should have viewed the property beforehand. 

It's bad luck but hopefully something you can sort out quickly. I signed off on my home and not long after there was a leak in the house roof that ruined the walls and freshly laid carpet, no loft insulation, draughts coming through all the window trims (inside) some windows full of condensation. 

There's always something that will come up that didn't before. Good luck in sorting it out. 

Gavin83

How long was it empty for?

I expect what happened was the lack of heating in the house leaking through the ceiling plus the lack of movement of the water caused an uninsulated pipe in the loft to freeze and then to burst. It’s likely the vendor had no idea.

It’s an unfortunate thing to happen, especially given it’s their first house and so close to Christmas but it’s no one’s fault. They need to be claiming on their insurance.

diystarter7

Alter_ego said:

Obviously leaking??

Hi OP

Sorry but I agree with the above poster.

do you have insurance, did they, let the insurance sort it out as no one knows if the leak started before or after.

Really sorry about that but in certain parts of England we've not had weather like this for about 3/4 years and people forget
re burst pipes, no heating etc.

Good luck and I hope it is all sorted soon and they have a lovely time in their new home once sorted.

Thanks

ThisIsWeird

DavePower said:

Son & his partner moved into their first house on Friday (16th Dec) following lengthy house purchase sale. After posing on the front door step with big grins they opened the front door to water pouring through the ceiling from the loft and no electrics, they were heartbroken literally. We managed to fix the leak and sort the electrics fairly quickly but there is extensive ceiling, carpet and will paper damage not to mention unseen damage and energy usage to dry out the property.

My question is the pipe was obviously leaking before completion and i have photographic video damage. Phoned their solicitor and they didn’t want to know plus they weren’t particularly interested lat on Friday, unprofessional. Id appreciate advice on if they have any claim against the sellers or indeed if its worth pursuing?

Many thanks in advance.

Please tell us your son and his partner had insurance in place from exchange of contract? In which case, buckle up and make the claim.

If their insurance company wish to try claiming off the vendor, that's their call. If S&P have Legal Protection included in their policy, see what they have to say too.

The bug-eyed mongoose says:

I’m buying a house. When do I need to have buildings insurance in place?

The house you’re buying becomes your legal responsibility as soon as you exchange contracts with the seller. That means you should arrange for your buildings insurance policy to start from this date.

If there is property damage between exchange and completion, who is liable for repairs?

If the property sustains any damage after you’ve exchanged contracts – let’s say a fence blows down or a window is broken – the seller must tell you about it. However, it’s your responsibility to carry out any necessary repairs, which is why you need to make sure you’re properly insured.

(I only became aware of insurance being required from EoC by reading posts on this forum. I don't think I'd ever started the insurance going before the actual completion date in my life :-(  )

TELLIT01

I'll be honest and say it wouldn't have occurred to me to take out insurance from the date of exchange, and neither our solicitor nor the estate agent suggested doing so.  It's a horrible situation to be in, particularly this close to Christmas.