Who pays the excess?

DullGreyGuy

eddddy said:

Tahlullah.H said:

There was a severe leak - a 'tenant' in a flat 2 floors above me, interfered inappropriately with some pipework, which affected the 3 flats below.

Just to add...

It sounds like you're saying that the tenant upstairs may have been negligent (by interfering with the pipework).

If you have evidence of negligence you could claim for for your losses (including the insurance excess) from that tenant.

Negligence isnt strict and so you have to prove they were negligent (ie did something a reasonable person wouldnt do or failed to do something that a reasonable person would do). You'd need to know in a lot more detail what they actually did to the pipework rather than just "interfered inappropriately"... there are plenty of things a reasonable person would do (eg swap out washing machines) that could result in a large escape of water if the stop valve failed or the new machine's hose was split etc.

The tenant could probably rely on their Contents insurer to defend them if they have any.