Water in their bedroom, will we have to pay?

[Fortheloveofgodwhatnow]

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? 🤷🏻‍♀️

@StaplesCorner Admittedly I am clueless about this, never had a situation like this before.
Dh will know more about it and I’ll ask in the morning,
Neighbours are older, retired, ex doctor, they have resources to pay and are decent people, aside from being nosey, busybody types, they don’t mean any harm. The husband is pretty uptight, so likely he will have got straight onto it

You don’t know if you have insurance and you can’t ask your husband because he’s in a bad mood??

If its your pipe causing the leak then you/your insurer must pay to fix this. Any damage to your neighbours wall will likely be covered by their insurer. We had a pipe under the bath leak through the floor belows ceiling a few years ago and that was the case anyway.

[quote Fortheloveofgodwhatnow]@StaplesCorner Admittedly I am clueless about this, never had a situation like this before.
Dh will know more about it and I’ll ask in the morning,
Neighbours are older, retired, ex doctor, they have resources to pay and are decent people, aside from being nosey, busybody types, they don’t mean any harm. The husband is pretty uptight, so likely he will have got straight onto it[/quote]
Why would they be paying anything. I am presuming they have insurance. Or you should have insurance.

If it’s your leak then you are liable, however insurance should cover it

@VanGoghsDog

if it turns out to be something that has happened due to, for instance, lack of maintenance or failure to make normal checks

What are these "normal checks"? I don't do any "checks" on my house. I also don't do running maintenance. It's my house, not a commercial property.

Normal checks - look at wall - is water running down it- no, check complete

@Fortheloveofgodwhatnow

They’ve also said we can’t use the water/flush the loo at night 🤷🏻‍♀️

Um... Why are you letting these people dictate how you live in your house?!

@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?

Your mortgage would've stated you needed to get home insurance but you weren't obliged to take it from the lender. It would've been your choice.

It doesn’t matter if they have the “resources to pay” if the fault is on your side you are liable for the costs

If you don’t have insurance then you will need to pay. If you do have insurance then it MAY be covered - depending on the fault. I say may because I had an issue once that I assumed would be covered but because of the nature of the fault it wasn’t and ended up costing a lot to fix

[quote Fortheloveofgodwhatnow]@StaplesCorner Admittedly I am clueless about this, never had a situation like this before.
Dh will know more about it and I’ll ask in the morning,
Neighbours are older, retired, ex doctor, they have resources to pay and are decent people, aside from being nosey, busybody types, they don’t mean any harm. The husband is pretty uptight, so likely he will have got straight onto it[/quote]
They don't have to use their money to sort your problem! Hopefully you've got insurance.

The no-flushing-the-loo-at-night request was just to assess water usage for one night and not for ever.
Any damage their side is for their insurers to sort out (or them if they don't have any).
Your responsibility is to get a reputable plumber in to check your bathroom and to repair any leaks (if any) and to give you a signed letter saying you're watertight. You give a copy of this to your neighbours to prove you've not been negligent.
You do not have to pay for any damage their side unless you fail to repair any leak asap.

If it's a holiday home then how often is it let? Four visits a year probably needs special insurance. Holiday letting needs special insurance too.
Insurance companies usually send one person out to look at problems.

@mumda

If it's a holiday home then how often is it let? Four visits a year probably needs special insurance. Holiday letting needs special insurance too. Insurance companies usually send one person out to look at problems.

They don't let it? They use it as their holiday home. Would still need insurance that covers it for being empty 30+ days at a time, but different to letting it out as a business.

I’m not saying for the neighbours to pay our side, I’m saying they have the resources to pay for their side if they needed to, as in, I don’t think they’re pulling a swift one trying to blame it on us

It’s their holiday home, they don’t let it out to anyone, they come to stay in it every few months generally

OP, have you checked if you have insurance yet?

"We do have a chimney breast on the same side."
I suspect structural damage to chimney.
Is it a shared chimney breast in a terrace?
Could be damp from rainwater leaking through wall. Has there been alot of rain the last few months.
Look up outside to see if there is a chimney cover on top and for visual damage like cracks or if plaster have fallen off or if it a brick chimney it may need repointing.

It seems unlikely that so much water is getting through the wall from your side, without any showing on your side.

If you can't ask your husband a question when he's in a mood, then once this is sorted, I'd advise you to start a thread about this to explore how very unhealthy that is.

Now you've said chimney breast I think that's the issue if your wall is tiled top to bottom.

I also suspect you have no insurance as it's been mentioned many times it will be covered under that but you keep ignoring those posts.

Load of messages didn't show up as I posted. You must know what direct debits you pay.... Building/contents insurance may have been a requirement at time of mortgage but if you've canceled contents you've prob cancelled building too.... I don't know many people who have separate policies.

But if the pipework runs behind the wall the first sign op might get is her tiles lifting or grout cracking as the surface behind swells. Maybe the puddles previously attributed to dd playing are part of the leak.

The general, mistaken, belief is that if the leak came from your property, you’re liable and should pay for any damage incurred to your neighbour’s property. However, the reality is that unless you’re found to be negligent your home insurers won’t pay to repair your neighbour’s damaged property. In this scenario your neighbours will need to claim off their own property insurance.

It would need to be proven that you were legally liable for the damages caused and you were negligent in your actions. Most normal leaks are simply bad luck and not negligent.

If the leak is coming from your property it will be your responsibility to carry out repairs in order to minimise any further damage to your neighbour’s property. Furthermore, this would need to be completed to enable your neighbour’s insurer to carry out repairs.