Leak to flat below: feel like I am overpaying

PRAISETHESUN

Are you actually responsible for repairing the damage? If not, then to a certain extent it doesn't matter who they choose to use to repair the damage. The only "reasonable" cost is £0.

koalakoala

Doesn’t sound unreasonable to me

ThisIsWeird

koalakoala said:

Doesn’t sound unreasonable to me

Why should the OP pay nearly £400 for something they have no responsibility or liability for?

AskAsk

ThisIsWeird said:

koalakoala said:

Doesn’t sound unreasonable to me

Why should the OP pay nearly £400 for something they have no responsibility or liability for?

I think he is referring to the cost for the job.

ThisIsWeird

AskAsk said:

ThisIsWeird said:

koalakoala said:

Doesn’t sound unreasonable to me

Why should the OP pay nearly £400 for something they have no responsibility or liability for?

I think he is referring to the cost for the job.

Oops! 🤫 🤐😬

lb00

Thank you all.

The plumber is adamant it’s not his fault, but I still believe it is—I contacted Geberit multiple times, sent them a video of the inside of the flush plate, and they confirmed he likely didn’t tighten it correctly.

I know the proper thing to do would be to just tell them to sort it out with my plumber, but I’d rather not go back to him on this. I don’t want to damage the relationship in case other issues come up and I need his help. At the same time, we also don’t want to create tension with the building manager, especially since we’ve just moved in.

So I’d be fine with chipping in on top of the £200 by the plumber to get this sorted once and for all—I just feel the price is a bit steep, and I don’t see why I should be paying for the whole ceiling when the damage is really just a line.

Given all this, what would be the best way to go back to the manager? I was thinking of either asking myself for alternative quotes to see if the price is reasonable
or
just explaining that I’m happy to cover the cost of redecorating to bring the ceiling back to how it was, but that the price seems excessive.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated—I’m a FTB, and after going through the whole house purchase and renovation, I’m honestly exhausted by it all.

eddddy

lb00 said:

Given all this, what would be the best way to go back to the manager? I was thinking of either asking myself for alternative quotes to see if the price is reasonable
or
just explaining that I’m happy to cover the cost of redecorating to bring the ceiling back to how it was, but that the price seems excessive.

As a starting point, maybe you should avoid saying or doing anything that makes it look like you're accepting liability/responsibility for the leak.

Otherwise there's the risk that they (or another flat owner) says "We've found another £1000 worth of damage from that leak that you admitted responsibility for".


Personally, I would avoid getting into arguments with a property management company about what is a fair price for a redecoration job, how extensive the redecoration needs to be, etc. They might suggest that they're professionals who know about this stuff, and you're not.

Also, if you find a cheaper decorator, and management company agree to use them - then your chosen decorator does a rubbish job, and it needs to be done again - will they expect you to pay again to put your chosen decorator's work right?


TBH, I would still go with the option of saying something like this to the management company...

The plumber is denying negligence, and so denying liability
However, the plumber is prepared to pay you £200 as a goodwill gesture
I'm prepared to put £50 on top as a goodwill neighbourly gesture, as I'm definitely not liable for the damage
You're welcome to discuss this with the plumber, if you wish 

anselld

lb00 said:

Thank you all.

The plumber is adamant it’s not his fault, but I still believe it is—I contacted Geberit multiple times, sent them a video of the inside of the flush plate, and they confirmed he likely didn’t tighten it correctly.

This bit doesnt really make sense.   You have refered to the "flush plate" several times but this is the bit with the buttons which sits in front of the cistern.  As such it is not in contact with water and therefore cannot leak.  The part of the cistern behind the flush plate could potentially leak but ONLY IF the fillvalve was incorrectly adjusted AND the overflow was blocked or incorrectly adjusted. 

If it ends up being an argument over the technicallities you will need to get the facts and terminology correct.

lb00

@anselld @eddddy

Thank you for your replies. Apologies I was being a bit loose with the terminology. 

What happened according to Geberit is that the braided hose has not been fully inserted before securing, or that the O-ring is pinched or not sitting correctly. 
What I told the manager in a previous email is:
A shift in water flow or pressure caused the hose connection in the toilet cistern to loosen, leading to a leak. The water was shut off as soon as we noticed and the issue has now been fixed.

Based on this, I would say as you suggested something like:

The plumber denies any negligence and, therefore, any liability. However, they are willing to offer £200 as a goodwill gesture. Additionally, I am prepared to contribute £50 as a neighbourly gesture, though I am not liable for the damage.

They could still come back to me saying that this was a result of my renovation works anyway so expect me to cover it I guess.

Any further advice hugely appreciated and thanks again.

subjecttocontract

I can't believe that we are still discussing this
* You are only liable if you have been negligent.....you havent, so you are not responsible for cost of repairs.
* The leak is due to gravity.....you are not responsible for gravity.
Don't pay.