To make neighbours pay

[LloydColeandtheCoconuts]

Sorry that this is a boring one...
I live in a downstairs flat conversion and our upstairs neighbours have been there for 3 years. Before they moved in we had issues with water pouring through the ceiling into our bedroom which ruined bedding and ceiling but they dealt with it and assured us it was fixed - it happened about 3 times.
So, this evening I was putting the baby to bed when water started pouring through again, it dripped on the duvet and a cushion before I could get a bucket. I immediately told the lodger upstairs who said he’d been running a bath and would stop. The owner is away but I left him a message and he called back pretty quickly. His lodger had filled him already in so he knew that this had been an ongoing issue and he went on to say that the previous owners had completed many botch jobs that are slowly coming to light - including the patch job of this leak. He was very apologetic and said he would be happy to share any costs with me when he gets back. I didn’t agree or disagree to this but said I would call back with more information later.
My AIBU is even though the previous owners did shoddy work, surely he should pay for the plumber and other damages as the leak came from his property?

I don't think you should pay unless it relates to your pipes or property causing it in some way. For example if you and the neighbour had a joint bit of botched work that went wrong you should both pay, but if it's all their's then definitely you shouldn't cough up.

Any chance he meant if you pay for it to be fixed ASAP he will repay you when he gets back?

Yes, they are definitely liable for damage caused by their leak. This should be covered by their insurance.

He should pay for the lot or claim on his insurance. Why would you pay? Your pipes didn’t cause the leak!

He might mean share the costs to replace your damaged items.

He should claim costs on his insurance but if it wasn't much water can you not save the duvet/pillow?

He isn’t going to try to get you to pay for the plumber.

i think you should get contents insurance ASAP

Thanks for your replies. The duvet is going to the dry cleaners tomorrow and the cushion is going in the washing machine so both can be saved. I will give him the dry cleaning bill.
The plumber has been and gone and will be in touch with upstairs to hopefully fix the problem forever. I’ve sent his details to my neighbour and will leave it with them to sort.
Thanks

He should pay for any damage done to your property or your belongings as a result of the leak, surely he's insured anyway?

SoupDragon
I think he was suggesting we go halves on the plumber. I’ve had to pay for the plumber because neighbour is away but he’ll be getting that bill too.

I was the upstairs neighbour in these circumstances. I owned the flat and paid for the repair to the bath and the downstairs neighbour claimed for her damages through the joint "block" insurance.

A pipe burst in my flat upstairs. The buildings insurance paid for damage to the fabric of the building and our contents insurance paid for damage to our neighbour's belongings.

Ive just thought, as we share the freehold we have joint building’s insurance so he may have been referring to using that to pay for the plumbing damage. This means that I will end up paying

Yes it will normally be funded from the joint building insurance (property damage lawyer here). No cause of action against the neighbour unless you can prove negligence and even so this may fail because the block insurance is intended to cover this sort of situation (see Frasca Judd v Golvina).

Possibly a case against the plumber who carried out the works but again you'd have to prove negligence (no privity of contract between you and plumber so no contractual claim).

Sorry, it's a bit shit.

He should pay [landlord should pay, actually, if the fault was pre-existing from previous neighbours and bodged)