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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:
Pluvia · 09/04/2022 21:58

OP, is there any sign of damp on your side of the wall? Is your bathroom fully tiled, floor to ceiling? I guess in that case there could be a leak behind the tiles, but it sounds unlikely. If the leak is coming from your bathroom I'd expect signs to show up on your side of the wall first. It sounds more likely that they have a leak or that there's been something going on with their roof/ loft and they've got water coming down the wall from that.

Who fitted your en suite? Was it fitted relatively recently? In which case if the plumbing has sprung a leak you may be able to claim against the plumber who installed it.

Do you have plumbing for a shower up against the wall? I guess it could be that. But again, I would expect you to have seen marks on the ceiling below and have noticed a damp floor in your en suite.

Toomanyradishes · 09/04/2022 21:58

Theres usually an exclusion period on insurance eg 30 days where you cant claim etc

Some insurance will allow you to claim immediately but you will pay a premium for that

StoneofDestiny · 09/04/2022 21:58

Prioritise home insurance whatever happens.

LoisLane66 · 09/04/2022 22:01

You do nothing and admit nothing until you get a plumber to check the pipes in your en-suite bathroom.
He will tell you what the best course of action is after the inspection.
Check your insurance excess.
Surely a 3 year old doesn't splash so much water that you need to put towels down. That's ridiculous.

Theonlyoneiknow · 09/04/2022 22:02

I also over catastrophise OP, as said just focus on making sure what is causing their leak isn't also affecting your property

lovingtheheat · 09/04/2022 22:05

[quote Fortheloveofgodwhatnow]@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?[/quote]
Hopefully you haven't cancelled or allowed your previous insurance to lapse.

If you're uninsured then you'll need to go through any new policy - I'd be surprised if a new policy would cover this. Or if it did, the premium would be very expensive.

LIZS · 09/04/2022 22:05

Buildings is different to contents insurance, ideally as a homeowner you need both. Is your property your home or a holiday home too?

HeddaGarbled · 09/04/2022 22:08

If you have more than one bathroom and they just mean overnight until the plumber has been tomorrow, I don’t think it’s unreasonable of them to request you not to use the en-suite just for tonight.

colette1970 · 09/04/2022 22:08

Is it a wall where chimney is as you would also have water damage if your fault , I had same with my neighbour turned out water was leaking down her chimney when heavy rain and doing damage due to maintenance on her side .

DixonD · 09/04/2022 22:09

@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.

No one checks.

But it certainly IS a condition of the offer that you arrange insurance otherwise their security (your property) is at risk.

LoisLane66 · 09/04/2022 22:10

Is your water tank in the loft?

Freddiefox · 09/04/2022 22:10

We had very similar, next door washing machine leaked and had leaked for ages. Gradually the wall became soaked.

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.

This isn’t true, once the water saturated the nearest point, the wetness travelled up the wall.

Op, take your bath panel off, or look where your pipes run and see if it’s wet, you are likely to have a problem your side too.

DixonD · 09/04/2022 22:12

No new insurer will pay toward an existing issue.

If you don’t already have insurance, you’ll have to pay yourselves.

starfishmummy · 09/04/2022 22:14

[quote Fortheloveofgodwhatnow]@HeddaGarbled But If there’s no burst water pipe, what do we pay and to where 🤷🏻‍♀️
Sorry, I sound massively thick about this![/quote]
Try not to panic. It might be nothing to do with you at all. Just be careful what you say to them. And if they start to say its your fault then Co tCt your insurers alright away. They might want to send a loss adjuster out to inspect.

MySecretHistory · 09/04/2022 22:14

Hopefully you haven't cancelled or allowed your previous insurance to lapse. If you're uninsured then you'll need to go through any new policy - I'd be surprised if a new policy would cover this. Or if it did, the premium would be very expensive.

Unless the Op had damage in their own home then an old policy wont cover it either.

MySecretHistory · 09/04/2022 22:15

Try not to panic. It might be nothing to do with you at all. Just be careful what you say to them. And if they start to say its your fault then Co tCt your insurers alright away. They might want to send a loss adjuster out to inspect.

Fine. their loss adjuster. Their insurance. Nothing to do with the OP. Thats why you have insurance.

noideabutstilltrying · 09/04/2022 22:17

If you have insurance there is usually an extension of the policy called trace and access. It pays for finding the leak, accessing the leak and making good of the access point. The actual repair is your responsibility as it's maintenance of the property.

You'll probably get a visit from a company like SOS leak detection, rainbow international or DCP.

They can tell you if your property has raised moisture levels. If you do then it would possibly need to be dried. This is when an excess would become applicable.

You'll most likely be visited by a loss adjuster. They can talk you through the whole process and help with contractors if there are repairs required

SerendipitySunshine · 09/04/2022 22:18

You can take out insurance anytime but it won't cover you for issues that have already happened.

MySecretHistory · 09/04/2022 22:18

@DixonD

No new insurer will pay toward an existing issue.

If you don’t already have insurance, you’ll have to pay yourselves.

Pay for what?

They wont have to pay for any damage next door. next door have to claim from their own insurance.

Insurance doesnt cover fixing the damage ie mending a broken pipe. If their is a cause in their own house the OP will have to pay for that and would to even if insured.

If the OP has damage resulting from a leak in their own house then yes if they are insured it would typically be covered. If they dont have insurance it wont be. the Op at this point doesn't seem to have any damage in their own house.

Uncomplicated · 09/04/2022 22:18

From my experience (a long time ago), their insurance (if they have it) covers any damage to their building/contents. If the problem was caused by your burst pipe and you don’t fix it and further damage is caused to their building/contents, their insurance will still pay, but the insurance company may come after you/ your insurance company for the money

TakeYourFinalPosition · 09/04/2022 22:20

We had this in our flat last year, our neighbours bathroom leaked down our living room wall. Their insurance sorted everything, fixed the leak their side and then plastered and repainted our wall, and gave us an amount towards damaged decor. Our insurance didn’t have to get involved. It was all quite easy to deal with.

MySecretHistory · 09/04/2022 22:24

@TakeYourFinalPosition

We had this in our flat last year, our neighbours bathroom leaked down our living room wall. Their insurance sorted everything, fixed the leak their side and then plastered and repainted our wall, and gave us an amount towards damaged decor. Our insurance didn’t have to get involved. It was all quite easy to deal with.
Flats are different, there is usually joint buildings insurance, you don't all have your own.
Leftbutcameback · 09/04/2022 22:28

As others say water does travel in funny ways. We had a leak in a cupboard and it took me ages to work out it was a pinprick hole in a hose spraying upwards and then dripping down.

Just checking they don’t have a chimney breast in that room? We stayed in a holiday home years ago and after heavy rain came home to find the wall and bed soaked. The water had run down the gap in a tile down the chimney breast.

Leftbutcameback · 09/04/2022 22:30

And if their insurers want to seek recompense from your insurers (for example if they feel you were negligent), they will sort it out between themselves (assuming you do have insurance of course) so just leave it to them.

Jellybean23 · 09/04/2022 22:32

It's a requirement of your mortgage lender that you have buildings insurance cover on your house. So hopefully you haven't let yours lapse.

Next door will investigate the source of the dampness and if it is found to be coming from your pipe work, then you need to tell your insurance company about it. They will advise you what to do from that point on.