Insurance Void due to MA negligence

williamcroome

Hi. 

I am a flat  lease holder with share of freehold. Last year the roof leaked through to my ceiling and, although it was repaired, last month it started leaking again. Whilst trying to assess source(which has taken longer than I hoped) damp has now entered my flat and although I an taking precautions I am concerned some items of furnishing will get damaged.

If I understand correctly I would need to claim for these under my contents insurance. But I read they this could be denied due to what could be considered negligence by MA to resolve the issue.

Does any one have experience or advice. I haven't yet spoken to my contents insurers (as no damage has yet occurred) but should I. I'm also due for renewal and I'm concerned on the impact this will have. 

Thanks

HampshireH

Why are the MA negligent?

The roof has been watertight since work was done. If the new leak was from the same place it should have been relatively easy to identify and get the original workman back under warranty.

 You dont say what the leak is I.e. could a bucket in the loft space have prevented further damage whilst a repair was carried out? Were tiles off and needed a tarp to keep watertight. Is it a flat roof that hasn't been fitted properly?

Must be quite severe for you to need to claim off your insurance. Did the ceiling come down or was it streaming down the wall and then being absorbed by your carpet and causing damage?

eddddy

If the Managing Agents were negligent, then you would claim from them for your resulting losses (not your insurance).


More generally, damage resulting from water leaking through a roof would normally only be covered by insurance if it resulted from a specific storm event. You'd need to provide the date (and time) of the storm, and the insurers would probably check met office records to make sure there really was a severe storm in your area at that time.

williamcroome

A bit more information. 

The current belief is that water ingress is actually through one of the walls. That wall should have had renovations in 2021 but has been delayed. Now it is seeping through wall and into roof space. 

The damage is not water per say but damp in the flat which is now likely to be causing mould on furniture, carpets etc. 

Maybe that isn't in general claimable on contents and I should somehow be looking to get any damages covered by MA. I'm not sure how I would go about this, do they have their own liability insurance which works cover such an event?

eddddy

williamcroome said:

Maybe that isn't in general claimable on contents and I should somehow be looking to get any damages covered by MA. I'm not sure how I would go about this, do they have their own liability insurance which works cover such an event?

In general terms, if you think the Managing Agent has been negligent, then you would claim your resulting losses from the Managing Agent.

It's not really your concern whether they have any insurance in place, or whether they choose to make a claim on their insurance.

However, if they decide to make some kind of insurance claim, their insurers might want to deal with you directly, instead of via the Managing Agent.

But the big challenge will be proving that the Managing Agent was negligent. That might involve getting expert reports etc.

williamcroome

Thanks @eddddy. That's a lot clearer