Aibu to say im not paying?

[tiny2278]

I own a flat in a building managed by an outside company. More than 6 months ago our corridor was damaged by a leak from another flat. Ceiling, lighting fixtures, carpets and walls all damaged. The management company promised to fix but haven't mentioned a word in months. I emailed today and they said each flat would be required to pay £400 pounds each (5000 in total) to get the place recarpeted and painted.

First of all that seems like a rip off for one corridor. Or maybe they mean to do the whole building this wasn't made clear.

Secondly, why should any of us pay? Either the management company who is responsible for that areas upkeep or the insurance of the flat who caused the leak should pay surely not innocent homeowners who happen to have to walk through the corridr.

In my flat, buildings insurance covers water leaks. If it didn't, the cost of repairs would come out of the service charge. (In fact a couple of year after I moved in, they increased the service charge by £1500 a year to pay for a new roof.)

It is extremely unlikely that the the whole bill could be landed on a flat that leaked, as they will be indemnified for any liability by exactly the same insurance policy that is responsible for repairing the corridor.

(I have no idea whether £5000 is a fair amount for the repairs.)

I suspect the buildings insurance (usually covered by your service charge) has a high excess so they aren't claiming. It could also have been declined by insurance as wear and tear.

I forgot to mention that building insurance is paid for out of the service charge, individual flats don't pay it.

THere are two insurance policies that should be involved here, the flat where the leak originated should be using their insurance policy and your management company would have a building insurance policy as well, part of your management fees go towards paying for this policy.

The flat that leaked may have contents insurance that will cover them for any legal liability if gross negligence is provable,but I think 99% of leaks from flats that damage common parts don't fall into that category. (But I'm speaking as a mere flat-owner, not an expert, so willing to be disagreed with.)

In my previous flat the owners of every flat own the common areas jointly. The owners at an AGM (very few people every attended these) picked a management company to clean, repair the common areas & and take out a whole building insurance policy. They charge each flat an equal share of the costs. Individual flats do not buy their own buildings insurance.

Anything that affected the common areas was paid by the affected corridor or everyone if it affected the whole building. The monthly/annual service charge does not cover unforeseen circumstances like a leak.

A leak would normally be a whole building/corridor issue as individual owners do not maintain the building pipes.

So yes I can see you will have to pay your share to cover the repairs to the common area. The only question is why doesn't the insurance cover it and are the management company overcharging you. If they could go through the insurance you would still have to pay a share of the excess and increased premiums.

If the management company is overcharging you (which isn't uncommon) then you should get a breakdown of all the costs incurred in the invoice. But unless there is a genuine error you will have to pay your share.

If your still unhappy then get a majority of the flat owners together at an AGM and change to a different management company.

You nay get free advice from your insurer, you may have legal cover..
Your trade union maybe give legal advice about insurance.
Worth speaking to your neighbours (not just the ones who had the leak) and getting the low down on the company

They should have insurance. They sound like con artists.

Hi, insurance solicitor here. Damage to any part of the building should be covered by the buildings insurance which is almost always arranged by the freeholder who is reimbursed by charging the leasehold each a proportion of the premium sum (known as insurance rent). In return, the leaseholders have an interest in the policy and the landlord typically covenants in the least to use any proceeds from the policy to reinstate the damage.

There is very little chance of recovering from the leaseholder from whose flat the water escaped. You have no privity of contract so any claim would need to be I the tort of negligence (I'm assuming you are in England or Wales). An accidental escape of water from a leaking
fitting etc is not negligence. Leaving a bath to overflow could be but the next problem is that individual rarely have public liability insurance except for driving so there would probably be no other insurer to deal with. You would have to pursue the tortfeasor as am individual and persuade the freeholder to be a co claimant as arguably you don't have a proprietary interest in the areas of the building outside your demise. Complicated ... and depends on the lease terms and policy conditions!

Clear as mud?