Water Damage from Other Property - Leasehold

PhoenixFlames

OK - few more details.

A 125l direct unvented tank was being replaced in the airing cupboard. When they decoupled it, the remaining water just vented straight out and into my ceiling. I was standing in the lounge and all the lights etc went out, I then turned as the sound of water to see it running through the smoke alarm - which I assume was the natural place for it to escape. So it had to come along a few metres in the floor/my ceiling.

I threw a container under it and ran upstairs and found two young lads panicking with one of them yelling about having no bucket. I told them what had happened, asked who was in charge. They had no wet vaccum, buckets or even a mop. I asked if they had anything to clean it up and (I kid you not) one of them pulled out some hand tissues.

I asked them to call their boss and to call me. This led to the unpleasant incident in my lounge. I realised it was the same guy I had found directly under my front window in the morning. When I'd gone outside and asked him what he was doing, he told me it was none of my business. When I pointed out a man scrabbling behind my front bush and under my front window was very much relevant to me, he just muttered he was looking for a meter and left. I mention this to make it really clear how much I do not want to ever have to deal with him again. He loudly insisted that water leakage was "inevitable" and something I should tolerate when people were doing work. I asked him to leave.

I spoke with the Letting Agents who stated this plumber is their preferred contractor, working under their direction, found it unlikely he would ever be rude and that they should be contacted for everything related to the property. They sent a qualified electrician after several days to replace the mains alarm and tested everything going back on. I sent them pictures and videos of the cracking and they have refused to pass on any messages to the owner. There is a good chance the owner has not been made aware by them.

Having had my own tank replaced 6 months ago, my plumbers drained with hoses, had buckets and even powered up the wet dry ready to go just in case. I'd like to think that this was pretty basic 101 stuff for a plumber.

Just so aggravating. Had they had a vaccum they could have got lots of the water up, thrown some dehumidifers in the right place and sent someone round with a tub of whatever from their maintenance team (they have painters and decorators) and fixed the crack with an apology when it dried. I'm really far from someone that wants to make a mountain out of a molehill, I would have been mollified with the basic steps needed for them to make it good, especially as they keep insisting they "control" the property on behalf of the owner.

Thanks for the suggestion to go and check the lease. I'll look for anything to do with water leaks. If it is noted, I will go to the Land Registry to get Owner details. I guess they can then choose to address the issue with their Letting Agent.

subjecttocontract

Genuinely I wish you good luck with getting the plaster crack sorted but.......I suspect you are wasting your time and will get nowhere. Small plaster cracks.....even those a few feet long.....are the sort of repair that gets done during redecoration.

mta999

What's the op describes as happening is pretty much the definition of negligence (by the plumber and thus by the owner) and thus the owner above is responsible for the costs repairing the crack

eddddy

mta999 said

What's the op describes as happening is pretty much the definition of negligence (by the plumber and thus by the owner) and thus the owner above is responsible for the costs repairing the crack

No - if the plumber was negligent, it's the plumber that is liable for the cost of repair. Not the owner.

(If you were to hire a plumber, and the plumber did something daft, which resulted in your neighbour's house burning down - you would not be liable for the hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage. The plumber would be liable.)

The only exception might be something like if you told the plumber specifically to do something negligent, or you knew that the plumber wasn't a competent person to do the job, but you hired them anyway.

Chief_of_Staffy

If there was significant damaged then you'd claim on your own insurance; they would pay for repairs and get that money back from the plumber's insurance, assuming he has any, or him personally if not. You wouldn't have to deal with the moron personally. But a shrinkage crack, if that's what it is, really isn't worth the effort and you would end up losing money because your insurers likely wouldn't bother pursuing a third party for a few quid, they'd just put up your premiums on renewal.

sheenas

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82018841#Comment_82018841

I gave an idea for a repair, so the OP understand what they should be asking for when requesting a quote. I am sure if you asked a plaster you would get a quote for replastering the ceiling, which isn't necessary.

PhoenixFlames

Thanks everyone. The idea of having to engage with that plumber again around his liability insurance is SO unappealing and would require me to deal with a man whose already demonstrated some pretty out there behaviour and I'm certain it would result in him knocking on my door again. The juice is not worth the squeeze as it were. If the ceiling had come down for example, it would be a different matter and then it would be my insurance dealing with him, rather than having to do it personally.

Thank you for the tips from people on the kind of repair needed.