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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

IsraelAndRoo · 09/04/2022 21:18

You need to work out whether you have insurance - this is something everyone should know regardless of whether they live - what would happen if anything happened to your partner?

Stop your kid flooding floors - if they aren't sealed then yes, this could have caused the issue over many months if the doll bathing is a regular occurrence.

Your water bills will tell you your water usage possibly and will show if there's been an increase over the last few months - start by looking at them if you are metered.

saleorbouy · 09/04/2022 21:19

Most home insurance policies have a maximum vacant period specified, usually 60 days.
If they are infrequent visitors to their property then they might struggle to claim.
It's not your fault that a what could be a minor leak has caused more extensive damage as they have neglected to check the condition of their property.
If you have home insurance then you should be fine to fix the cause. Them claiming might be an issue due to the days vacant.

ballsdeep · 09/04/2022 21:20

Op how can you now know about insurance??? I wouldn't care how pissed off my oh was, we would be discussing it.

SmellyOldOwls · 09/04/2022 21:20

Surely you'd know if you had a burst pipe. It's not really the kind of thing you don't realise. The water could have come from anywhere - their water tank in the attic, the overflow, leaky roof, their own pipes (have they been heating the house over the cold snap because their pipes could have frozen and burst). This definitely isn't damage from splashing around your en-suite.

Don't apologise to them, don't admit liability to anything, don't offer to pay for anything at least until you know more. Maybe they should come and check on their property every so often!

GottaLoveTheCold · 09/04/2022 21:20

You probably do have home or buildings insurance as it is usually a mortgage condition and not worth not getting it.

if you think your DH set it up and you pay it monthly then check the DDs on the bills account. I pay mine annually to save a bit of £ but he would probably mention shopping around as it’s a chore to do it every year.

Malbecfan · 09/04/2022 21:21

If one of their walls is damp, it sounds far more likely to be coming from their loft or roof than your en suite. I know this sounds simplistic but water doesn't run upwards. Any leak will have the water trying to get to the lowest point.

We have some issues in our ancient house but these are directly below bathrooms, not alongside them.

When you have all bathed/showered/cleaned teeth/ been to the toilet this evening, take a photo of your water meter if you have one. Then 1st thing tomorrow, before you flush any toilets, take another photo.

The holiday home owner may be negligent. I own a holiday cottage but it's next to my house. Our insurance states that if it is unoccupied for more than 30 days, the water has to be turned off and the heating either left on a frost setting or drained down. The heating thing is easy because it has electric storage heaters and when a frost is forecast, we put them on low. The water is turned off between visitors. If your neighbours have left their water on, cold weather could have caused a pipe to burst.

Gazelda · 09/04/2022 21:25

Is the wall that adjoins theirs tiled? Is there a shower against it? Might water be sleeping behind the tiles?

jytdtysrht · 09/04/2022 21:26

I’d say they were pretty negligent leaving a property unattended for 3-4 months at a time. Even if the problem originated in your house, the extent of it is their fault.

Corrag · 09/04/2022 21:26

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

Not necessarily. You might be required to have insurance when you arrange the mortgage but nobody's checking you keep it running.

Original poster

Fortheloveofgodwhatnow · 09/04/2022 21:26

@Changechangychange Thank you, I will double check but yes assuming we must have in order to have had the mortgage for the last 12 years. It’s perhaps contents insurance that I remember cancelling as I was going to change over to someone else, if I recall

OP posts:

harridan50 · 09/04/2022 21:29

You dont cancel insurance without an alternative in place

Silverclocks · 09/04/2022 21:30

@Corrag

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

Not necessarily. You might be required to have insurance when you arrange the mortgage but nobody's checking you keep it running.

I was going to say exactly this. I've changed insurance company many times and I've never had to tell the mortgage company.

Not having insurance probably puts you in breach of the mortgage terms, but they don't check. Years ago they used to insist you had their insurance, but that's been illegal for a long time now.

Pinklimey · 09/04/2022 21:31

They can do one about telling you what you can and can't do at night.

Original poster

Fortheloveofgodwhatnow · 09/04/2022 21:32

@IsraelAndRoo What do you mean if something happened to Dh?

OP posts:

Toomanyradishes · 09/04/2022 21:34

You say they had people around with clipboards taking photos? That could be insurance assessors, for their claim on their insurance for damage.

Go around/get your dh to go around and take a photo of the water damage, it may help indicate where the problem might be on your side if it is on your side.

Check the water meter overnight as suggested. If the water meter hasnt done anything funky overnight I would insist they check all other possible options first, before you cause any damage to your property. I would also go into your loft and check there is not water coming in via your roof etc.

If your water meter does change overnight then you need to find the cause of the leak as it will be damaging both properties. Star with anywhere the pipes are easily accessible e.g. in the loft, and if you cant find anything then call a plumber.

You dont need to pay for their damage. So if you havent got buildings insurance the most you have to pay is for the plumber to investigate and repair the leak. You will need to pay at some point to also make do any damage caused to your house by the leak or cause when finding the leak, but unless its rotted your joists etc you may be able to live with it until you can afford to fix it.

Depending on the issue i would expect the plumber to be hundreds not thousands

If you havent got buildings insurance get it, not having it is a false economy, what if you get storm damage, more burst pipes etc

TruffleShuffles · 09/04/2022 21:35

[quote Fortheloveofgodwhatnow]@Changechangychange Thank you, I will double check but yes assuming we must have in order to have had the mortgage for the last 12 years. It’s perhaps contents insurance that I remember cancelling as I was going to change over to someone else, if I recall[/quote]
You really need to check OP as you would usually have buildings and contents in one. Buildings insurance alone is usually for landlords and contents alone for tenants.

Original poster

Fortheloveofgodwhatnow · 09/04/2022 21:36

@FTEngineerM Yes, going through a stressful time at the moment with a sick Dd and money issues, probably am overreacting, do feel anxious at the moment.

OP posts:

Corrag · 09/04/2022 21:43

I overreact to stuff like this as well OP. I've tried to stop but don't seem to be able to so now I allow myself to catastrophise for a few minutes then pull myself together and get it sorted. Things are generally not as bad as they seem at the outset.

Toomanyradishes · 09/04/2022 21:48

The other possibility, if you do find the leak (and this isnt the only bathroom) is that there might be a stop tap on the pipe going to the bathroom. If the stop tap is before the leak you might be able to turn it off temporarily, to stop the leak, until you have the money to fix it. Its not ideal as you wont be able to use the ensuite but it is an option.

Obs only if you dont have insurance to sort this out on

MayMorris · 09/04/2022 21:49

Friend lives in ground floor flat. Burst pipes in flat above bought their ceiling down.
Friends insurance covered it- no payments from flat above
Actually worst was that neighbours above did nothing to help friend- not helping mop up, getting carpets out etc. nought. Friend had to do all work to get repairers in , assessors, dehumidifiers etc…took 3 months to sort out. Very distressing to have to live like that - damp, no carpets, wallpaper pealing, no ceiling ….
So, if it does transpire it was your plumbing , please apologise for the distress and stress the incident caused- even a small gesture such as a bunch of flowers to say you’re sorry that they got impacted by an accident in your plumbing…you don’t have to take responsibility of doing it to them, but take some accountability to show them empathy.

MySecretHistory · 09/04/2022 21:49

1.You are not liable for anything in their house. They need to claim on their house insurance.

If you have home insurance it only pays for repairing the damage in YOUR home. It does not pay for fixing whatever caused the damage. So it the floor fell in it would pay for that but not for the plumber who stopped the pipe causing the damage from leaking.
It could be anything, they could have a leaking pipe or tank.
What you need to do is ascertain if anything in your house is causing it. If it is get it fixed. Thats it. You have no involvement with anything in their house.

Threeboysandadog · 09/04/2022 21:50

@Fortheloveofgodwhatnow can I suggest that once this problem is solved and you are in a less stressed state of mind that you get a file/drawer/shoe box and find out details of all your insurance policies/utilities etc, print off the policies and keep them safe in your chosen receptacle. Also birth/marriage/other important certificates, passports, passwords and keep it somewhere safe. In this digital age this might seem weird and unnecessary but, when my mother died we would have been up shit creak if it hadn’t been for her shoebox. I have similar and it just makes moments like you are having today so much easier.

LIZS · 09/04/2022 21:50

Logically yes. However we recently had a slow leak from a boiler pipe which soaked the particle board floor and rose upwards into the wall plaster and through the adjacent wall (only noticed it when the skirting lifted). Probably all within a week.

Artichokeleaves · 09/04/2022 21:54

Absolute nonsense trying to restrict you using the loo/tap at night. If you are losing water through a leak there will be a steady flow through the night. I had a recent letter from the water board alerting me to a leak (and they were right) because they'd clocked a steady small use of water around the clock and were able to tell me the amount lost per hour. Obviously a toilet flush and hand wash at a particular time will be different to a steady round the clock flow.

Original poster

Fortheloveofgodwhatnow · 09/04/2022 21:56

@Threeboysandadog It’s okay I have it all in folders in the drawer in the dining room, it as just this one thing for some reason I feel unsure about.
If it is the case I don’t have it anymore, can I literally call them on Monday and start with building insurance?

OP posts:

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