Response to Letter before Action

unbeareableLightness

I live in a block divided into 4 flats. Earlier in the year my neighbour found water damage to his property. He contacted our insurer - which insures the whole block including my flat and his - who investigated and found it was most likely a water leak from my bathroom into his property. The leak was not visible on my end. I then hired a plumber who found it was a hole behind a shower screen that had been leaking water for years but it was not visible either to me or any plumbers, it was only discovered by a process of guessing and then taking down the shower screen. 

Anyway, the neighbour got the insurance company to cover repairs. But recently I got a Letter Before Action from the insurer, demanding I compensate them for all the works and accusing me of being negligent/being a nuisance. The wording of the letter is vague, stating that "on balance of probabilities" I was probably liable and that I should have known a water leak would cause damage. But they had no specific evidence that I knew about the leak, which I didn't! And when I became aware of it I fixed it. 

So I intend to contest the claim. My question is do I need a solicitor to draft a response to the LBA? The LBA they sent was from a solicitor. I'd prefer to just write one myself to keep costs down but I don't want to make mistakes. 

If I can write a response myself can anyone direct me to a response to LBA template for this sort of situation?

Thank you in advance. 

Aylesbury_Duck

To be clear, each of the four flats has their own insurance, it just happens to be the same company that provides it to each of you?  Or do you somehow have a collective policy you all share?

Assuming it's the first of those, I'd speak to your insurer as the policyholder for your insurance, and get them to deal with it.  It's what I'd do if my semi-detached neighbour's insurer sent me such a letter.  

fatbelly

You don't need a solicitor. You don't even need a full defence at this stage.

Is this a standard pre action letter with a reply form and 30-day limit? Or just literally a letter?

RefluentBeans

Yeah this seems messy - speak to the insurance company and see what they say. It seems a bit of a conflict to insure both sides in a lawsuit as the same company would be defending and prosecuting. 

user1977

You might be better moving this to the Insurance board for more knowledgeable advice, but if you're all jointly insured under one policy I'm not sure it's correct for the insurer to be chasing any of you for reimbursement. After all (as mentioned above) if you had individual policies, those would include insurance against this type of claim from the neighbours.

Though in the meantime, I don't see any harm in asking them what evidence they have about your alleged negligence? (I wouldn't get into more involved correspondence at this stage)

PHK

user1977 said:

You might be better moving this to the Insurance board for more knowledgeable advice, but if you're all jointly insured under one policy I'm not sure it's correct for the insurer to be chasing any of you for reimbursement. After all (as mentioned above) if you had individual policies, those would include insurance against this type of claim from the neighbours.

Though in the meantime, I don't see any harm in asking them what evidence they have about your alleged negligence? (I wouldn't get into more involved correspondence at this stage)

I think you are missing the negligence aspect. If the insurer believes that the OP was negligent in someway then they can sue the OP. In fact, they'd have a duty to do so to mitigate their costs. An insurer can even sue their own policyholder if they believe negligence etc. 

To clarify, if the OP was unlucky that there had been an unknown, undetectable  and unforeseeable escape of water from a fixed installation  then the insurance company should not sue.  So they must believe they have some evidence of negligence. 

RefluentBeans

PHK said:

user1977 said:

You might be better moving this to the Insurance board for more knowledgeable advice, but if you're all jointly insured under one policy I'm not sure it's correct for the insurer to be chasing any of you for reimbursement. After all (as mentioned above) if you had individual policies, those would include insurance against this type of claim from the neighbours.

Though in the meantime, I don't see any harm in asking them what evidence they have about your alleged negligence? (I wouldn't get into more involved correspondence at this stage)

I think you are missing the negligence aspect. If the insurer believes that the OP was negligent in someway then they can sue the OP. In fact, they'd have a duty to do so to mitigate their costs. An insurer can even sue their own policyholder if they believe negligence etc. 

To clarify, if the OP was unlucky that there had been an unknown, undetectable  and unforeseeable escape of water from a fixed installation  then the insurance company should not sue.  So they must believe they have some evidence of negligence. 

Think the issue is the insurance company is one that is potentially defending and suing the same person simultaneously. If the insurance was for the whole block as one insurance, the insurance company should just reject the claim as negligent. It does raise the question of what happens when the insurance company acts on both sides, as how can you be sure both sides are getting fair advice. 

Ectophile

You don't need a solicitor to write a letter for you if you're capable of writing one yourself.

If you do choose to write one, I would suggest showing it to someone else before sending it, so that they can critique it and point out anything wrong.

The obvious defence is that you had no way to know that the leak was there until the neighbour found water damage.  If you couldn't have known that the leak was there, then you can't be negligent.

I expect they are trying it on, hoping that you give in and pay.  If it ever goes to court, it will be the judge who decides on the balance of probablilities.  The complainant (that's the insurance company) doesn't get to decide.

PHK

RefluentBeans said:

PHK said:

user1977 said:

You might be better moving this to the Insurance board for more knowledgeable advice, but if you're all jointly insured under one policy I'm not sure it's correct for the insurer to be chasing any of you for reimbursement. After all (as mentioned above) if you had individual policies, those would include insurance against this type of claim from the neighbours.

Though in the meantime, I don't see any harm in asking them what evidence they have about your alleged negligence? (I wouldn't get into more involved correspondence at this stage)

I think you are missing the negligence aspect. If the insurer believes that the OP was negligent in someway then they can sue the OP. In fact, they'd have a duty to do so to mitigate their costs. An insurer can even sue their own policyholder if they believe negligence etc. 

To clarify, if the OP was unlucky that there had been an unknown, undetectable  and unforeseeable escape of water from a fixed installation  then the insurance company should not sue.  So they must believe they have some evidence of negligence. 

Think the issue is the insurance company is one that is potentially defending and suing the same person simultaneously. If the insurance was for the whole block as one insurance, the insurance company should just reject the claim as negligent. It does raise the question of what happens when the insurance company acts on both sides, as how can you be sure both sides are getting fair advice. 

An insurance company can sue one of its policyholders if it thinks they have broken the contract of insurance. 

Why would they be defending the OP? 

littleboo

Surely you just need the plumber to write a statement about what he found and confirming that there was no outward sign of a leak.

fatbelly

At this stage it's only a letter.

The op will only need to formulate a defence if a claim follows.

It is fair to respond along the lines of 'i accept no liability in this matter and any claim will be defended' without giving away what that defence will be