Neighbour flooded my flat

anubiscrazy11

Hello all!

At the start of the month, my (already problematic) upstairs neighbour overran their bathtub and caused a lot of damage to my flat. Had to get walls plastered and painted, and my bathroom flooring and floorboards replaced. Came to 1.5k in total for repairs.

I initally tried to claim this on my contents insurance but:
1) turns out I made an error when applying for this insurance, and didn’t opt for accidental damage coverage. Looking at this as a blessing in disguise, as It meant I was made aware of this mistake and could rectify it.
2) the customer advisor informed me that this would be a case for the buildings insurance, as there was no damage to any personal belongings.

Contacted the factors company of the building who informed me that the building’s insurance will cover it. Anyways, that has all been sorted and I have been reimbursed for my repairs from the insurance company . Obviously I had to pay the £500 excess fee which has been deducted from my reimbursement.

I issued my upstairs neighbour with a letter containing this information and asking for him to reimburse me the £500 as this was basically his fault. 

2 weeks past and he never acknowledges it until yesterday when he chaps my door. Agrees that I shouldn’t have to be out of pocket for this issue, but claims that my personal insurance should be able to claim this off his personal insurance? I didn’t really understand what he meant by that, but he was adamant that this wont be coming out his own pocket. I did clarify that any dealings with insurance brokers are now complete, hence why I have been issued an excess fee.

Just wondering if someone can confirm that any excess fee would have to come out of his own pocket? 

thanks!

DullGreyGuy

Why did you need floorboards replaced from a one off escape of water? Did they not suffer any damage from the same as the damage to the two units would be one claim on the common buildings insurance. 

If he is claiming on the public liability cover of his insurance then he'd be the one paying any applicable excess

anubiscrazy11

DullGreyGuy said:

Why did you need floorboards replaced from a one off escape of water? Did they not suffer any damage from the same as the damage to the two units would be one claim on the common buildings insurance. 

If he is claiming on the public liability cover of his insurance then he'd be the one paying any applicable excess

The amount of water coming down completely saturated the floorboards underneath the cheap lino that was put down by the previous owner. I have no idea what their damage was like - the neighbours don’t ever answer their door when i try speak to them, so I never found out if they made a claim or not - but I just assumed I was the only claimant. The factors acted as a middle man between myself and the building insurance company, so all they asked me for was picture evidence, invoices for the repairs and my bank details.

I do agree with you though, surely he would have some repairs of his own. Not sure if he did this through his contents or the buildings! My claim was made soley for the repairs on my flat, so I really am just looking for him to at least contribute to the £500 payout 

user1977

You claim against your neighbour. Whether he can pass it on to an insurer is his problem.