House Flooded due to burst pipe whose to blame and what can i do

chamb7914

Saturday evening the water pipe in our downstairs toilet (of a 3 storey house) that feeds water to ll the toilets in the house and the taps burst and flooded downstairs in about 1-2 inces of water. I would have thought as we rent the property the landlord would assume insurance responsibility for the carpets and repair of the fault as the house is less than two years old and should be insured for this thing. We have claimed for our losses ie electrical stuffs and clothing ie shoes that were damaged and a coat. The problems we are facing are:
1. The landlord has said that she is not insured for carpets and that we need to claim for them.
2. The builders have said its not there problem, despite the pipe simply bursting due to shoddy workmanship
3. We now have a sodden ground floor that is spreading damp up the walls and as you can imagine stinks
4. We have four children in the house and two of which have a history of medical problems with the 20 month old baby having asthma which although i am not a doctor will not be helped by this environment.
5. We are toying with the idea of witholding our 775 a month rent that we are paying until this problem is sorted.

Please anyone help us with what are rights are and who should by law doing what ????

EdInvestor

Usually the landlord's buidings insurance would pay for damage to the structure of the house and the repair of the pipe, though there is often an excess on the insurance policy for water damage as it is so common.If this is high then the damage may not be covered and she will have to pay the cost herself..

Damage to a tenant's belonging would normally be the responsibility of the tenant and perhaps covered by his contents policy.

The landlord's carpets if insured would be under a separate contents policy.

Step one would appear to be to mop up the water on the ground floor and start drying things out so that the extent of any damage can be assessed.

all_change

Firstly, whatever you do, don't withold rent. This can put you on very shaky ground legally.

However, I would recommend finding out exactly who is responsible for the repairs etc and the going down the route of arranging quotes for the work and providing these to the landlord. You can then legitimately deduct this from a rent payment - the key thing is to do it by the book, so please find out the exact method for doing this.

I suspect that you are only responsible for accidental damage to the carpets by you, as I think that this is something the landlord cannot insure under his buildings cover. This does not apply here: he is ultimately responsible for causing the damage as he is responsible for maintaining the building and services (i.e. the "shoddy workmanship" you mention). Since the carpet damage was caused by something that was his responsibility, I believe that it is his responsibility to fix.

HTH.

MissMoneypenny

Have a word with the CAB, so they can advise you how to get the LL to sort out her carpets and clean up the mess in her house. You could also try phoning your local council's private lettings and see what advice they can give you.

pinkshoes

The pipe work, if it burst due to shoddy workmanship, should be covered by the builders, as new builds should have a 10 year guarantee on the structure (which I presume would include pipework!!). It's the landlords responsiblity to chase this up.

You might want to read THIS:

[SIZE=-1][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]buildings insurance covers the structure of the building, plus permanent ‘fixtures and fittings’ such as baths, fitted kitchens etc. The test is – can it reasonably be removed and taken to another home? If it can, then it is part of the ‘contents’ and it will not generally be covered by a buildings policy. Buildings policies usually include outbuildings – garages, garden sheds etc. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]contents insurance covers your possessions – your television set, furniture, clothes etc. In other words, just about everything you would take with you if you moved.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Like the courts, we follow the industry convention of treating carpets as ‘contents’, even though they are often fitted. Although most people would probably leave their fitted carpets behind when moving home, the fact remains that fitted carpets can be taken up relatively quickly and easily and re-laid to an acceptable standard. It is their transportable quality that properly makes them part of the contents.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

So looks like the carpets would come under contents insurance and not building insurance, so would be claimed from your contents insurance, unless, of course, the landlord also has contents insurance i.e. if the property was let furnished.[/FONT][/SIZE]

silvercar

I would expect:

the landlords building insurance to pay for any structural damage caused by the leaking pipe.

the repair to the pipe would not be covered by buildings insurance, it would be covered by any plumbing insurance the landlord may have taken.

The carpets (if owned by the landlord) would be the landlords responsiblity, either through contents insurance or some buildings insurance for let properties covers carpets and fixed kitchens and bathrooms in unfurnished properties.

If the landlord doesn't have insurance for any of the above 3 items, he will have to pay personally.

Any damage to tenants own contents would be for the tenant to replace either through insurance or personally.

clutton_2

down to the landlord as others have said - (provided it is his carpet) - whether he gets his insurance company to pay, or pays himself, it is not your problem.

what is your problem is not having any water to flush toilets with !!!

write to LL and give them 5 days to fix the problem, otherwise you will contact Environmental health - and then go to EH - you cannot be expected to live in a property with no flooring, which is damp, has inadequate plumbing with 4 children ..... you could also suggest that as the house is uninhabitable LL should find you alernative accommodation !!!!!