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AIBU?

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Original poster

Water in their bedroom, will we have to pay?

147 replies

Fortheloveofgodwhatnow · 09/04/2022 20:14

Holiday home next door to us, they come to stay in their house maybe 3/4 times per year.
They’ve arrived today for Easter and after we came back from a walk, called Dh to come inside. They had people with them with clipboards and cameras.
Dh has come back and said one of their bedrooms is all damp and soaked down the side of their wall. The other side of that wall is our en suite bathroom.

He wants us to check if it’s a burst water pipe, he had people there taken photos etc.
Nothing like this has ever happened before, will we need to pay for this? 🤷🏻‍♀️

OP posts:
BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 09/04/2022 20:57

How high up is the wetness on their wall? I would generally suspect a roof or exterior wall problem. If it was a burst or leaking pipe then it would probably have affected your bathroom wall too, the tiles would be coming away if there was constant wetness.

Water moves weirdly, when we lived in a flat there was a leak in the flat underneath us. They were completely sure that we were the cause (not unreasonably) but we didn't have any pipes or water directly above them and we couldn't find anywhere that was leaking in other parts of our flat. The clue was that it happened when it rained heavily and it turned out that a down pipe from the terrace of the flat above us was blocked and overflowing in heavy rain. The overflow was running down the outside of out sitting room wall and getting into the gap between the external brickwork and internal wall. Then the water was travelling in the gap between floors and coming out of a light fitting a good 20 feet from where it entered the building.

Aubree17 · 09/04/2022 20:58

If you had a burst pipe from your water supply wouldn't it be affecting the water pressure to your supply?
Water could be coming from anywhere.
As it's in their side the onus is on them to prove where it's coming from,

crowsfeet57 · 09/04/2022 20:58

Just tell them to claim off their insurance. It's nothing to do with you.

dfendyr · 09/04/2022 20:59

@Fortheloveofgodwhatnow

They’ve also said we can’t use the water/flush the loo at night 🤷🏻‍♀️
Why?
BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 09/04/2022 20:59

There've been quite a few storms recently, did they have someone do a roof check afterwards?

Original poster
Fortheloveofgodwhatnow · 09/04/2022 21:00

*Talking thousands

OP posts:
Hohofortherobbers · 09/04/2022 21:02

When we had a water pipe leak our insurance investigated the issue and fixed the pipe but did not cover the damage to neighbours property, insurance said neighbours would have to claim in their own policy. In the interests of neighbourly relations we paid for their damage out of our own pocket. I would be furious if I lost my ncb paying for something that was my neighbours fault. I was surprised, I assumed our policy would cover the 3rd parties damages, as car insurance does.

TellMeItIsntTrue · 09/04/2022 21:02

Buildings insurance is usually a condition of your mortgage?

TellMeItIsntTrue · 09/04/2022 21:03

But yes if you don’t have insurance you would be liable for the costs…

SafelySoftly · 09/04/2022 21:04

I really really hope you have buildings insurance, because if your house burns down and also next door’s too, how would you plan paying for that…?

tothemoonandbackbuses · 09/04/2022 21:05

Just turn off all water in your house and stand and watch the water meter for 15 mins. If there’s a leak your meter will be moving round. My parents had a leak to an outside tap and it was found by the water meter reading man who knocked on the door said your meters going round a lot what are you using, when the reply was nothing he said you’ve got a leak.

ifyouturnonthelight · 09/04/2022 21:06

Why wouldn't you have home insurance?

peachgreen · 09/04/2022 21:08

Home insurance doesn't "come with a mortgage" and if you don't have it you need to get it immediately.

There's no way of knowing what it will cost until you know what the problem is.

In terms of who pays for what, usually you would claim on your insurance to rectify the issue (if it is in fact your issue) and your neighbour would claim on his insurance, but if his insurance company decided that you were legally liable for the damage, they would then recoup their costs from you/your insurance company. Whether you're legally liable or not is a bit of a tricky matter, but in general it depends on if the issue is your fault - i.e. did the pipe burst because you let it freeze or something like that.

FTEngineerM · 09/04/2022 21:10

You sound really panicked in your replies and they’re escalating in content.

OMG not allowed to flush toilet at night.
It’s k, it’s just so that they can see if there is a leak for 1 night.

Daughter splashes a little water
when brushing teeth.

Daughter gives dolls baths and there’s water everywhere..

NO INSURANCE AHHHH

OnTheBoardwalk · 09/04/2022 21:11

So are they just asking you not to flush for 1 night and check readings?

I very much doubt your mortgage came with insurance but it’s a condition of a mortgage you have building insurance

Corrag · 09/04/2022 21:12

@ifyouturnonthelight

Why wouldn't you have home insurance?
You'd be surprised, it seems quite a lot of people don't bother. My FIL didn't for many years, we've only recently managed to persuade him to get buildings cover. Still doesn't have contents cover.

There was someone on here a couple of weeks ago telling people not to bother as her friend told her the insurance companies never pay out anyway. Said if her house burned down she'd "just fix it".

LIZS · 09/04/2022 21:12

The leak could be under the floor or behind the sink/bath/loo/shower or even from a heating pipe. If they only arrived today it could have happened slowly over time and you not noticed. It may be possible for a plumber to detect it without stripping tiles etc. Generally the source is not covered by insurance but consequential damage is. They could claim on their policy and their insurer recover it from you/yours.

Changechangychange · 09/04/2022 21:13

It will be their buildings insurance - this is not seen as anyone’s fault, just part of living in a terraced house. You’ll have to fix your own leak in a reasonable time once it’s identified, but you don’t need to spend a fortune yourself hunting for it. Their insurance should do that. And their insurance will pay to fix their wall, not you.

You should have buildings insurance - it’s usually a requirement of having a mortgage that you take out a policy to cover the rebuild cost of the house. Give them a ring, I called ours when something similar happened to us, and they were super-helpful and reassuring about what we were and weren’t liable for.

Silverclocks · 09/04/2022 21:14

The neighbours have made a perfectly sensible suggestion on how to find out if there's a leak. I imagine they'll be doing the same on their side.

You need to find out if you have insurance and arrange some ASAP. If you're not paying for it, you don't have it.

Then go from there. It will be what it will be, nothing to be done about it now.

LIZS · 09/04/2022 21:14

The leak could be under the floor or behind the sink/bath/loo/shower or even from a heating pipe. If they only arrived today it could have happened slowly over time and you not noticed. It may be possible for a plumber to detect it without stripping tiles etc. Generally the source is not covered by insurance but consequential damage is. They could claim on their policy and their insurer recover it from you/yours.

MajorCarolDanvers · 09/04/2022 21:14

@Fortheloveofgodwhatnow

Hoping we have home insurance, which sounds ridiculous but not sure if it came with the mortgage. If worse case scenario and we don’t have any, are we taking thousands?
Having home insurance is a condition of most mortgages but not part of them.

It's something you have to arrange in addition to your mortgage.

If you don't know whether you have it or not - would this be something your DH would have organised?

Silverclocks · 09/04/2022 21:15

A gradual leak, rather than a burst pipe, is often considered wear and tear and not covered by insurance anyway.

TheHoleNineYards · 09/04/2022 21:16

@Fortheloveofgodwhatnow

Hoping we have home insurance, which sounds ridiculous but not sure if it came with the mortgage. If worse case scenario and we don’t have any, are we taking thousands?
It doesn’t come with a mortgage. You have to arrange it. Surely you have though?!
TheHateIsNotGood · 09/04/2022 21:18

FGS, no drama pls - the first thing is, if possible, to detect where the water leak is coming from. Imagine the problem reversed, whereby it were your walls wet, then you'd want to know why wouldn't you?

Assuming your en-suite isn't your only bathroom then I'd turn everything off and not use it until the source is found.

It might be something easily fixed (en-suites are notorious for leaks) but the costs of rectifying the damage might need your Buildings Insurance, or theirs to cover it; their Insurance Co will just reclaim from yours.

If you've got a mortgage then you've got Insurance as Lenders require it, and it's situations like this that is why Buildings Insurance is a requirement.

Seems, your neighbours are being nice about it really, which is helpful as many would be shitty about it; so not as bad as it could be.

Changechangychange · 09/04/2022 21:18

In the interests of neighbourly relations we paid for their damage out of our own pocket. I would be furious if I lost my ncb paying for something that was my neighbours fault

It’s not the neighbour’s “fault” though - it’s wear and tear. Why do you think flats have higher premiums than houses, and people with flat roofs have higher premiums than pitched roofs? Because the likelihood of a leak is that much higher. Nobody’s fault, this is exactly what insurance is for. That’s why their insurance covers their damage and yours doesn’t.