Bathroom Ceiling about to fall down

Lorian

Post a photo pointing up at the same spot now the ceiling has gone. Only do so if it's safe nothing else will fall.

ThisIsWeird

Bigphil1474 said:

Bit harsh - first post was only yesterday evening, a Sunday.

Oops - :-( Sorry, Pingu. I got the timings wrong - I felt I'd been reading it for days.

Pingu1

Had a plumber round, and he has investigated both bathrooms. My neighbours toilet is leaking, which explains why the crack appeared in the middle of the ceiling. The plumber is convinced its 100% from the upstairs bathroom. He also said the beams and structure weren't too damaged, so its just the ceiling that needs replacing. I have to wait for the plumber to replace my neighbours toilet before attempting a ceiling repair.

Pingu1

Thanks for the advice.

ThisIsWeird

Good to have an answer to the cause! And should be easily fixable.

What to do about the ceiling is up to you, but it shouldn't cost you anything.

It sounds like a small job that doesn't warrant an insurance claim, so I'd like to think that the Freeholder or Management Company would look at covering the cost from their 'sink fund' - which I hope they have?

If they, instead, insisted it went to a Building's Insurance claim, then you can be pretty sure the cost of the excess will be spread between the flat owners, so everyone pays something in any case.

Who called this plumber - the flat owner, or the FH? Does he know a plasterer?

Pingu1

My upstairs neighbour is contacting his insurance company to see if they will cover it. I'm worried because water is still slowly dripping through. The plumber told upstairs to use a bucket to flush the toilet, and was convinced that would stop the dripping. I've not contacted the Freeholder yet as I'm worried it will escalate and cost me thousands, which I can't afford. Its my understanding the buildings insurance is for the communal areas and not individual flats. Another neighbour has said he will replace my ceiling, no idea what he will charge at the moment. I'm guessing £3 - 4K. He did rebuild my shower in 2022 and did a good job. I need to do a lease extension as well as I am almost at 83 years. I have to watch my blood pressure as I had a severe stroke 2 years ago, all this is making me very stressed.

secla

boarding and reskimming a ceiling will cost no where near 3-4k

FreeBear

secla said:

boarding and reskimming a ceiling will cost no where near 3-4k

Depending on the size, £300-400 would be the ballpark I'd be looking at. London rates would be higher, so may be around £600.

ThisIsWeird

Pingu1 said:

My upstairs neighbour is contacting his insurance company to see if they will cover it. I'm worried because water is still slowly dripping through. The plumber told upstairs to use a bucket to flush the toilet, and was convinced that would stop the dripping. I've not contacted the Freeholder yet as I'm worried it will escalate and cost me thousands, which I can't afford. Its my understanding the buildings insurance is for the communal areas and not individual flats. Another neighbour has said he will replace my ceiling, no idea what he will charge at the moment. I'm guessing £3 - 4K. He did rebuild my shower in 2022 and did a good job. I need to do a lease extension as well as I am almost at 83 years. I have to watch my blood pressure as I had a severe stroke 2 years ago, all this is making me very stressed.

I'll repeat - this shouldn't cost you anything. (I missed out the very important -n't from my earlier post :-(  )

We need some basic information, Pingu.

1) You pay a service charge, monthly or annually? Do you have a breakdown of what this covers? A properly-managed block of flats should explain precisely where the money goes, and this should include building's insurance. It should also say how much goes into a 'sink fund' (an amount to cover unexpected or longer-term requirements, such as a new roof, that sort of thing), and your annual accounts should show what the balance of this is.

2) Do you also have your own individual 'Contents' insurance, to cover essentially your own possessions - carpets, TVs, furniture, bathroom fittings, etc? If so, have a look through what's covered - there should be a list.

3) What is now damaged in your flat apart from the ceiling? Lights? Extractor fan? Are the floor coverings ok? Bathroom furniture? Ie, what is your total 'loss' from this incident?

4) Did you add Legal Protection to your Contents policy when you renewed it? If so, great - that might help.

There is some chance that the upstairs flat's insurance policy (that will also be 'contents', surely) will cover their faulty toilet, but that will likely come down to what went wrong. If they damaged it by accident - dropped something on it - then fair chance it's covered. If it just started to leak through age or lack of maintenance, then that will depend on the policy. Either way, tho', I would be surprised if it also covered damage to the building 'structure', especially one outwith the covered flat. (Again, some policies may be more comprehensive.)

So, I'm anticipating that the upstairs flat's policy won't fix your ceiling - but fingers crossed I'm wrong on that. But if it doesn't, then your options are to make a claim through the management co., or sort it yourself (you shouldn't have to), or come to an agreement with the upstairs flat - if you get a very good quote, they may be willing to pay it, or at least the majority.

You are still catching all this dripping water, aren't you? And you've taken lots of photos to show all the damage very clearly?

What to do? I'd suggest,

1) If you do have LP on your insurance, call them up for 'advice'. This will be free, and they should be able to guide you factually and legally. You are not making a claim, and are not chasing the ManCo or flat owner or anyone else (at least not yet...), you are simply asking for the correct info on where you stand, and what you should do.

2) Ask the flat owner if they have found out if they are covered by their own policy, and whether this also covers you - a third party.

3) Depending on the answer to (2), you contact your Management Co.

4) Meanwhile, if you easily can, try and get a couple of realistic quotes for sorting your ceiling. You haven't actually had a quote from that neighbour yet, have you? Hopefully it'll be nothing like £3-4k!

I'm going to rough-guess the cost of repair - once everything is done; 'board, skim, paint, refit lights, fan, etc - will be around £1k. This is not for you to pay.

Almost certainly the ManCo will look to use Sink-Funds, and by the time this is spread between all the flats (how many are there?!), it'll hopefully be a trivial sum. If the flat above also wishes to claim from 'Buildings', and if the policy says 'yes' (not sure it will), then the ManCo may consider it best to make a claim to cover everything. This will have a good few £undred excess, possibly £1k or more, and it may affect the annual premiums, but that's all a simple sum for them to calculate. And that's their job.

Please don't get too stressed about this - it is a very common occurrence (there's another thread on here at the mo'...), and every single Management Co will have had to handle this at some point, or soon will. It is what insurance is for. :-)

Pingu1

The latest development is the discovery my neighbours shower is also leaking, confirmed when they used the shower and water started rapidly dripping through the hole in my ceiling. The water upstairs has now been turned off, and I've instructed them not to use the shower.

Thank you for the detailed reply above. Answers to the questions:

1. Yes I pay a service charge and it is broken down. There is a small sink fund, but its my understanding its for the communal areas of the block. The buildings insurance for the block has an excess of £2500 for water damage.

2 and 3. No I don't. Luckily there hasn't been any damage to the bathroom, at least from what I can see. It missed the shower, and the floor looks ok. Only the hall carpet and a shower mat need a clean. The bathroom light is on the back wall and has been unaffected. Same applies to my extractor fan.

4. No

My neighbours insurance won't cover the cost of the repair, so it looks like I have to fund it after all. I've had a bucket catching some of the water, and the neighbours have just helped clean the bathroom. Hopefully I will be able to have a shower tomorrow. One thing I noticed is the damp has affected my sinuses. I've taken a few photos of the damage. The whole bathroom will have to be replaced, it will be damp above it.