AIBU in asking for this compensation?

[namechangeyetagain1]

Posting in AIBU for traffic but if anyone feels another thread would be better - please let me know! Also posting on behalf of a friend!

Friend has bought a new build house and has part-ownership with housing association (not sure this is relevant but going to give all the facts)

6 days after moving in she decides to have a bath. She has used bath before as the shower is over it, but not filled it properly. Once she's finished and has gone downstairs, she realises the bathwater is coming through the ceiling/light fittings/dripping down walls. It's also soaked into her brand new carpet she's just had fitted.

She turns off the downstairs electrics, phones the housing association and developers of the actual housing estate to let them know. They send plumber & electrician but neither will do anything due it not being an active leak anymore & needing electrics to dry out respectively. Next day plumber comes back to fix the bath - the pipes underneath hadn't been fitted properly and the electrician comes back to check the electrics and turn it all back on. In the meantime, she's lost a fridge/freezer full of food, had to cancel plans the night it happened and had to take the day off work to let the plumber and electrician in. Naturally she is seeking compensation from the developers.

She's requested the following compensation;

Damages (not including carpet as they have already sorted replacing that, but stuff like food in fridge/freezer, a games console that was on the floor, canvas on the wall etc.) - £470
She then has rounded this up to £1000 to include lack of electricity for 16 hours, no washing facility for 17 hour, cancellation of personal plans, inconvenience and emotional stress.

So in total she is seeking £1000 compensation. After a lot of back and forth - this happened over two weeks ago - the developers have come back and offered £470 full and final settlement.

AIBU to think she could ask for more and they should pay up without question? She was so excited to be owning her first property and moving and they have taken all the joy out of it and caused a very stressful time for her. They are also still using the same plumbing company who made this stupid mistake on houses not yet completed on the site.

Keen to hear what the lovely people of MN think and thank you if you got this far!! It was a long and tedious post I know...

That sounds like the appropriate amount of compensation to me, anymore than that is a bit grabby!

Struggling to see how she'd round £470 up to £1000.

Surely if she's claiming for the carpet, the console and canvas would be claimed for at the same time?

ProfessorMoody

The developers are sending a cheque straight to the carpet suppliers for a new carpet. Console and canvas are completely separate.

Extra £530 is for emotional stress/inconvenience more than actual physical damage that requires replacing. That's all included in the £470

Emotional stress?! Really?

I don’t think rounding up is fair - we always just claim for the exact damage done. Any stress etc is just unfortunate but can’t exactly be quantified or included i dDont think

Could she not claim on her house insurance?

£470 is fair enough, the other £530 is her trying it on - I'd cancel a night out and be a bit inconvenienced if I'd be paid £530 for a day's worth of faff!

She's a CF.

£530 for emotional stress of a leak that has been resolved and they're replacing all damaged property

She might say she doesn't want to increase her policy , but the house builders may say that it what it there for ? Also , does she have any legal cover with her insurance ,maybe she could discuss with them ?

Extra £530 is for emotional stress/inconvenience more than actual physical damage

For no electric for 16 hours and no going out one evening?

Oh sorry just seen she has got the other things refunded, yes she is being a CF . Shit happens ,annoying but true .

£470 seems fair. Rounding up would be £500 I think.

I dont quite get the emotional distress thingy - what emotional distress did she actually suffer? If you have a house you will quite often have to sort things out - thats just how it is. Boilers break, things fall down, drains get blocked... And you have to get people to fix it.

She can only claim for what she has lost. So while she can claim for loss of earnings plus her material losses, she can't claim for the other stuff as they came round to fix the issue asap.

I feel sorry for her. What a nightmare to have happen when she's just moved into her new home.

However, emotional stress and inconvenience are part and parcel of being a homeowner I'm afraid. She's not been majorly inconvenienced. I presume she's now over the emotional stress. She's been recompensed for her quantifiable losses. I think she should accept their offer and put it behind her.

Emotional distress?! 😂😂

How can she round up £470 to £1000.? It’s over double ??
It’s reasonable to be compensated for her actual losses but £530 for not being able to wash for less than 24 hours is a big stretch.

I think she’s being cheeky. Actual losses have been covered, fair enough, but claiming for emotional stress / inconvenience is ridiculous.

Things go wrong, shit happens. If I’d claimed compensation for everything that’s gone wrong with goods or services I’d be filthy rich! She’s not out of pocket , I can understand it’s dissapointing, but she needs to suck it up imho.

Emotional stress that's hilarious! They are replacing things destroyed to the full amount it's not like she had weeks of no power or water. Your friend is ridiculous (doubt it's a friend though sounds like it's about yourself).

The rounding up for emotionial distress is ridiculous. She owns her own house, she'll need to learn to cope with things like this. Yes to them replacing the damaged goods....no to the rest

470 rounded up to 1000?! Hahaha! Righto. Up to 500 maybe. "Emotional stress", pft.

She’s being a CF, this is home ownership you claim (and may even have to pay a deductible) on your home insurance for non building related material.
A fridge is fine unplugged for 24 hours such BS, half the stuff kept in fridges doesn’t even need refrigeration (apples, butter, eggs, katsup).

Part of owning a house is dealing with this stuff. Thing a happen. When it's a new build, there is almost always snagging work.

All you can expect is the financial cost to you being compensated. All the inconvenience and stress nonsense is silly. It's part of being a grown up.

Rounding up £470 would be £500 at most, rounding up to £1000 is CFery.

As a homeowner she needs to get used to house hassles