Claim for damage from neighbours leak refused.

Joanthebone

In September, just before going on holiday we had an estate agent round to put our house on the market. As we saw him out the door, returning to the lounge we noticed a wiggly line just above the skirting board, we got or insurers in and they said 'rising damp' so as we were going away we arranged for our regular plumbers to check our boiler and all the plumbing. They did a 24 hour test and found no loss of pressure and no leaks detected. While there they asked our neigbour if he had a problem, he would not let them in to check his side of the party wall, saying no, and "if there is a problem I will deal with it". When we returned from holiday he insisted he had no leaks. We later saw and heard him fitting 'rods' into the wall, the kind to treat rising damp, all the while insisting there was no problem. but telling my husband he had fitted rods. All this time the wet on our wall was getting worse. Every time we mentioned insurance claims he got really angry and said he wasn't going down that road, leading us to think he has no insurance!

We then got a specialist in who looked at it and said it must be coming from a leak next door. He noticed that the front wall under his lounge window was wet. (and it still is) That is exactly where his radiator is. In the past we have heard his wild grandchildren slamming the radiator and the sound was horrendous - we only cottoned on to this recently and feel it probably explains the problem. As we wanted to get the house sold, (we had told the agent to put it on hold) we got a firm in who took all the plaster off the wall to halfway up and about 14 ft. along. they then put the rods in and a membrane on the wall to stop the wet coming through.

Whilst this was happening we saw our neighbour getting rid of his furniture, he had told us they were getting a new suite. The furniture that left the house was made of black plastic, but was covered in white mould! He was still insisting he had no probem, but then the next time he spoke, he said 'Its not as bad as it was is it?". He keeps contradicting himself and is very difficult to deal with.

So, we have photos and reports from the plumbers and the people who fixed the wall, and now our insurance claim has been refused.

I am wondering if its because the idiot next door has no insurance? This has cost us nearl £5,000.

Any advice please?

MeteredOut

Was the claim with your insurance company or the neighbours? On what basis was it declined?

Do you have legal cover with your policy?

Aretnap

Whether it not your neighbour has insurance has no bearing at all on whether you can claim on your own home insurance policy. A bigger barrier to an insurance claim is likely to be the fact that your home insurance policy will very probably exclude any damage which happens gradually. It will cover escape if water, but only if it's a sudden, dramatic leak, not a slow leak which damages the fabric of the house over weeks or months.

What reason has your insurer given for declining your claim?

You can't claim from your neighbour's insurance policy - if he has one it's there to protect him, not to protect you. Your alternative to claiming on your own insurance is to make a claim against your neighbour personally - through the courts if necessary. To hold him liable you would have to prove that he was negligent, ie that the damage was the result of him failing to take the level of care that would be expected of a reasonable person. Usually this would mean showing that the leak and risk to your property was something that he knew, or should have known about, and that he failed to act on it in a timely fashion.

He might have insurance to cover whatever liability he has or he might not. If he doesn't it just means that he would have to pay himself any money a court awarded you himself, rather than claiming on his insurance. However suing a neighbour obviously had the potential to (further) poison your relationship, and is not something to be done lightly. If your home insurance comes with legal cover they might be able to advise further.

SiliconChip

If you do start a personal claim against the neighbour you'll have to declare it to potential buyers so you need to weigh up whether the £5,000 you might get back could be offset by reduced offers as a result of the dispute.

mills705

Is the issue in your property rising damp from a breached DPC or from an escape of water?

An escape of water ie the radiator may be covered but it would need to be proven in order for a valid claim to occur. Damp would not be covered under insurance as there is no insured peril for it as it was not sudden.