Water leak from neighbour

jaymis45

Hi All,

We have had 3-4 months of water leak in our garage that went unnoticed.  Only got suspicious when there was white mould appearing on garage floor on march 7th.  

The problem has been isolated by neighbour as a shower sealant which has just been repaired.   The neighbour has converted their garage  with a small kitchenette and on suite bathroom.

The water damaged 2 x Flooring that was kept in boxes (rotted on one side) plus we had to get rid of old mdf shelving.  Alot time and inconvenience caused by moving everything around in garage to locate leak.  Its still in a mess.   

My insurance is charging compulsory access of £350 for water leak.  I am not sure what to do as it seems alot and not sure the repair and cost of loss may be below access charge.   There is no guarantee I will get my money back or premium still go up for making claim. Plus they may only apply minor repair to floor and walls to prevent further leakage.

I have still to buy new garage shelves and replacement flooring , plus buy garage sealant paint to stop further leaks.

Its just one big nightmare snd it feels like the insurance company is making me do all the work.

Should I pay the access and go through insurance route ?

MalMonroe

It sounds as if you've started the ball rolling with the insurance company now. Didn't you know about the compulsory excess (not access) charge when you first took out the policy? It should have been clearly stated.

I guess you could ask the insurance company to cancel the whole thing if it's going to cost you more than it's worth and just repair the whole thing yourself. 

I would have suggested asking the neighbour to cough up or claim on their insurance but it seems that they would only be liable if they knew what was happening and ignored it. Or caused the damage maliciously Doesn't sound like that was the case though.

Why not have a word with your insurance company?  See what they say. 

My own thoughts and opinions though - but that's what I'd do because you're not going to know the answer until you ask the relevant people. 

Good luck. 

jaymis45

Thank you Malmanroe ,  I will speak to insurance company again but last time I spoke to them they said that as I dont have legal cover there is no guarantee of reclaiming money back.  ☹️