fall through garage roof Insured?

cathymcg

Hi
Does anyone know if a neighbour was to climb up on to next doors garage roof which is flat to get into his property (as he was locked out), and fell through would their insurer cover it under buildings or should the person who's garage it is claim of theirs. The garage roof wasn't in the best of condition but it didn't have a large hole in and done the job it was supposed to.
so ultimately it needs to be repaired but by whom?

clear_blu

Surely this does not normally fall within the perils that building insurance would cover.The first question would be 'did he have permission of the owner of the roof to climb on it'. If so then this would be an occassion when neighbours should discuss and agree who should pay and what proportion. If no agreement can be reached then small claims court is the answer. After judgement has been obtained then the insurance of the chap that caused the damage may deal with it under the legal liabilities section of his insurance.

cathymcg

Thankyou for that , No the person concerned did not have permission it was the early hours of the morning, the lady who's house it was is not well , so I will make a call to the insurer tommorrow for her, she is really upset at the moment .my husband has been over and put tarpaulin over it due to the amount of rain we have had.
But I feel that the neighbour should have insurance cover which would cover this?

clear_blu

She may HAVE to sue him in the small claims court...........I suggest she talk to him first to find an mutual solution.

[Deleted User]

In this case the fact remains that the perpetrator of the damage should not have been on the property of thier neighbour and as such there is a potential for a liability claim to be submitted agains that person's household contents insurance (or other liability cover)

It is also worth noting that the person to whom the roof belongs has a duty to maintain the property in a good state of repair and flat roof's are a nightmare as they need to be replaced every 8 - 12 years or so - if the property was not in a good state then the insurer might refuse to deal with the claim under the lady's buildings cover.

cathymcg

Thankyou
The fact is though, that the roof was serving its purpose regardless of condition and if the person hadn't fallen through then it may have lasted a few more years, surely if this is the case then an insurer would have some obligation.I understand your point but unfortunately she is not in a position finanacially to make repairs.
can I just clarify that if a claim is to be made it would be through the person who caused the damage home insurance and not the homeowner?

chappers

Is the roof one of those corrugated asbestos type ones , if so they are not designed to take the weight of a person.
The person who fell through the roof did not have permission to be up there and is totally liable for the damage they caused.I doubt however though whether their own insurance would cover for this (their policy is to cover accidental damage to their own property not wilful damage to someone elses))but the owners insurance may if she says she doesn't know how it happened. alternatively take the perpetrator to court if he won't pay up voluntarily.

[Deleted User]

In general it would be better to ask the home owner to make the claim on their insurance and ask the insurer to recover the money by engaging a process known as 'subrogation' this basically mean they act on behalf of the Policy holder to get back any money they pay out.

Finally the fact the roof was in any kind of state other than good is grounds for the insurance company to refuse to deal with the claim - it would be very cruel of them to enforce this, however they may simply reduce the amount of the payment or perhaps ask for a higher contribution.

Best bet is to call and find out - note that this will result in the potential claim being recorded and could lead to higher premiums.

If the home owner does note want to make a claim, she should have the repairs carried out save all documents (quoptes recxiepts etc) and issue proceedings through local country court (small claims) which costs somewhere around 30.00 - 100.00 [this money is refunded f judgement in her favour)

The biggest difficulty will be proving the person who went on the roof actually did it as the law requires the person bringing the case to provide proof. - Not an easy job


If you want some more advice on this one or if you have further questions send me a private message and I'll drop you my email address

silvercar

If I kicked a football at your window and broke it, I would be liable to pay for its repair. Whether your window was already weakened or not (eg small crack in corner) is irrelevent.

Similarly, if I climb on your roof without permission and break it, I should pay for the repair.

Given the roof was weak, the cost of the repairs should be limited to a make do repair job rather than a brand new roof. The object being to return the roof to service. The fact that the roof did its job rather than support the weight of a grown man trespassingis not relevent. Any roofer would have laid supporting beams across the roof instead of putting all his weight in one area.

If we are thinking of neighbourlyness. If it had happened in daylight, the neighbour would have knocked on the door and asked permission. The owner would probably have said that the roof was weak and it was ill advised. If the neighbour had been insistent, the owner may have given permission provided the nieghbour took responsiblity for any damage.

Bottom line is that the neighbour should pay for the repair. Whether he can claim costs back from any insurance of his own is a matter for him.