Bathroom Leak - leasehold property

jicms

Our bathroom floor is waterlogged, floor tiles moving and water rising through the grout. It's a leasehold flat. Could anyone advise whether this is our responsibility to employ a plumber to source the leak and repair the floor or whether it might be a building insurance claim?

Emmia

In this situation I'd employ a plumber pronto.

The source of the leak may or may not be your responsibility, but you'll only find out when the cause is identified.

AlexMac

What Emmia said!

I used to act as treasurer for a small shared freehold block, including arranging insurance as we six flat owning leaseholders shared all the admin rather than appointing a managing agent.  Despite this, I'm no expert, but I'd say that it's deffo your responsibility to sort, rather than the freeholder, their insurer nor your own contents insurer if you have one.  

If you are on an upper floor, the neighbour downstairs won't be too pleased at the inevitable damage to their ceiling and decor, or longer term, to the ceiling's structural integrity.  If you're on the ground floor, and unless you have a solid (as opposed to a timber "suspended") sub-floor) the long-term impact could be equally serious; rot and sagging.  It won't do a solid floor any good either.

When we were in the flat, our upstairs neighbour's plumbing leaked several times into our bedroom; cosmetic damage rather than anything worse, but when they tried to claim on their contents policy, AXA refused on the grounds "there had been no negligence" (in that they fixed it when alerted; probably correct, but I was unimpressed by AXA's snotty claims handler phoning ME to brush me off.  I hadn't even claimed- my neighbour had!).  On the other hand, on another occasion, when there was catastrophic damage due to a significant leak which ran for a week or more from a 1st floor flat into a lower one while the occupant was on holiday, AVIVA - the freeholders' buildings insurer were fantatstic.  

Their line was that they weren't responsible for the leak's repair (which probably cost peanuts), but were liable for the tens of thousands of pounds of consequential damage, loss of rental income / alternative accomodation, etc.  Their contractors were great too.  I've loved AVIVA, and dissed AXA on every opportunity ever since!  

You'll probably end up unhappy at the inconvenience; water travels so leaks aren't always obvious.  But worth getting a grip, fast! Good luck

Emmia

Just to add, the longer you leave it, the worse the damage will be, and if water is rising through the floor, that's a major leak you have on your hands.

jicms

Many thanks for all your tips.  We already have plumbers booked in to locate the leak. Hopefully it won't be too hard to identify. The apartment is ground floor.