Neighbour refusing to pay for damp repair

brigidgoddess

Hi everyone! I hope this post is in the right category.

Just over a year ago, my mum sold the family home and bought a flat. I (a disabled adult) now live here and she lives here too, but often stays with her partner. The whole flat was treated for damp and decorated. There is a dehumidifier machine on all the time, installed by damp experts. In October 2025, I noticed some damp in one room, and some mould on the ceiling on the other side of the same wall, in another room. I'm chronically ill, and this gave me sinus headaches on and off for days. Had to air and heat the place. We flagged it with the neighbour, I visited upstairs and found there was a shower, right above the affected walls. The tenants upstairs said there was mould in the ensuite and they couldn't use the shower. The landlord was told, and tried to palm it off, but we assumed she would get a plumber in or something.

In October - Jan, nothing was done, I was very ill, my mum also became ill (she's since had one operation and is waiting on two more). In December/Jan, the damp became more noticeable, and there was another visible layer of damp over the first (which went all the way down the corner of the most affected room). I had pets in the room - 3 out of 4 of them had breathing issues by this time, and couldnt spend more than a minute in the room without getting sinus headaches I found disabling. My mum visited the management company in person to try and get something moving. They contacted her several times - she refused to use a plumber directed by them but would sort out her own. This took weeks. In Feb, a plumber visited my flat, said there was a shower directly above and that there were cracks in the grouting, so it made sense. The landlord above has argued that we didn't tell her soon enough (we told her the day we noticed in October, and when we noticed it getting worse in January, I don't think this is an argument), that the cracks in the grouting were so small it wouldn't have caused the leak (the leak has stopped since the plumber was round?!). She has said she will only pay £200, and that this is 'more than enough'.

My mum used a reputable decorator we had used before, and they quoted £1295 (including a 15% winter discount) to treat cracks/damp/mould and to paint over it in the two rooms. The main room was completely redecorated, but the room with mould was only treated on the ceiling over the affected areas. We sent her the invoice and mum said she would accept £650, but she is still saying she will only spend £200. We have sent a Letter Before Action, with screenshots of us trying to move things along over weeks, the photos of the damage, and the invoice from the decorator. We sent it to the management company too, to make it more official. She has come back saying how rude it was to send to the management company, and that we didn't tell her in time etc etc etc and she would still only pay £200. My mum spoke to a neighbour two floors above whose flat leaked into the one above, found out he paid her instantly and told the upstairs neighbour she thought this would be the case here. She also said my mum broke confidentiality and showed a lack of integrity (by talking to the neighbour 2 doors up) but she wanted to keep neighbourly relations and keep it out of court. I don't believe there is any room for negotiation when she has been rude, stalled and will not budge from her £200 position, 1/6 of what was paid on repairs.

Would the next step be to take her to court? What would the procedure be? Is there anything I can say to my mum to make her less stressed about the whole thing?

Thank you so much to anyone who read the whole thing and replies!

Emmia

A tricky situation.

Do you/your mum have contents insurance that includes legal protection? If so, I'd give them a call.

gwynlas

Is the flat in England or Wales and is it leasehold or share of freehold?

Is there a management company that can ebforce the terms of the lease?

brigidgoddess

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81978404#Comment_81978404

No contents insurance unfortunately..

brigidgoddess

Its the share of a freehold. And the management company only deals with leaks in communal spaces.

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81979582#Comment_81979582

That's unfortunate. I'd say that regardless of this leak, you really ought to have contents insurance with legal protection ideally. In the event of a fire, burglary etc. you're currently uncovered.

eddddy

Unless the leases in your building specifically say otherwise…

…in general, the landlord (or tenant) upstairs would only be liable for damage to your flat if the damage was caused by their negligence.

And having an unexpected leak from their shower wouldn't normally be negligent.

But… if you told the landlord or tenant about the leak and explained the damage it was causing, and they didn't take reasonable steps (like arranging a plumber and/or stop using the shower), then that's likely to be negligence.

So in theory, you could make a claim for negligence for the extra damage caused since you told them about the leak (but probably not for any damage caused before you told them).

But if the landlord and tenant deny that you told them, that might make it very difficult to prove that you told them.

It might also be difficult to prove how much damage occurred before you told them vs how much damage occurred after you told them (unless you took photos etc)

brigidgoddess

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81979597#Comment_81979597

Very true, thank you for the tip!

brigidgoddess

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81979618#Comment_81979618

It was from a leak from her bathroom, she was told (whatsapp evidence) in October, I went upstairs in October and they said they couldn't use the bathroom due to mould, and showed me where the shower was. There was gaps in the grouting, the plumber believed water was getting through. Annoyingly, when the plumber came downstairs, I didn't ask for his contact details because I was quite out of it at the time. I see what you mean about negligence though, the damp/mould was maybe 50% worse by January (we do have photos, we sent them to her in October and January), but I don't know how much that would have affected the decorating cost. Thanks for your reply :)