Leak into downstairs neighbour

[Soher]

I had a leak from my bathroom into the downstairs neighbours flat. I didn’t know about the leak until they notified me as it was under the flooring. I had it fixed immediately.

There was a crack to their ceiling and some dripping water when they notified me. I explained I’d had it fixed and they would need to contact their insurance company to sort out the damage. I also notified my insurance to let them know there might be a claim for reimbursement from the neighbours insurance company.

They did nothing and the ceiling has now come down and they are expecting me to pay to have it fixed. They are ignoring the fact they need to go through insurance, my first thought was they don’t have any but they have confirmed they do. I even offered to pay the excess so they aren’t out of pocket.

Other than paying for it all myself which I can’t afford to do is there anything else I could do? Other than the fact I can’t afford to I don’t want to arrange workmen for somebody else’s property, if the work isn’t up to standard for example who then becomes liable.

I live on my own and I’m really stressed as they are becoming more and more aggressive about it.

You’ve done the correct things here, they need to sort this through their own insurance. They obviously don’t want to claim and risk their premiums going up, but that’s not your problem.

You took action to address the cause of the damage as soon as you were notified and offered to facilitate the respective insurers sorting out any eventual claims. It is on them that they did not take similar timely action to fix the damage to their ceiling. What were they doing? Sitting patiently waiting for you to send over workmen?

When we had a similar issue with our upstairs neighbour she sent her electrician to inspect our electrics as a gesture of good will (water pooled in to our bathroom light a shorted the fuse).

We agreed we would fix the damage to our bathroom and sort out the cost via insurers. However in tbw end we didn't bother as this was a catalyst for us to finally refit the bathroom and the work to fix the damage (a repalcement light and repplastering and lainting the ceiling) only added a few hundred to the overall bill of several thousand.

There was nothing they could do to fix it immediately. The ceiling would take quite a while to dry out. It would have come down due to the remaining water there (unless it turns out that there is still a leak). Wouldn't this be covered by the building insurance which should be the same for both of you?

I understand there was no immediate fix but they could have contacted their insurance and had someone come out to ensure it was safe and if needed take the ceiling down safely. All they have done is send me photos demanding I send someone to their property.

The leak has definitely stopped.

It’s a maisonette style property so only one downstairs and one upstairs ,
there is no joint building insurance, we each have our own policies.

Is there any reason they cant be given your insurance details so they can claim direct and not have to involve their own insurers? You have already notified your insurers of a possible claim so there should be a claim reference and contact they can be given to process it.

Just reply explaining this is exactly why you have insurance and they will need to make a claim through it, you won't be doing or paying for anything personally.

Have you got legal protection on your insurance? It might be worth giving them a call and seeing if they can advise you on the best way to respond, which will head off any further complaints at the pass.

I'm not sure if all the advice on this thread is correct. You can't make them contact their insurance. As a PP suggested, if you have legal protection with your insurance (or with Which etc) I'd give them a call.

@Soher if they keep harrassing you, call the council anti social line or report to 101.

Tell them you are paying NOTHING. Its all in the hands of your insurance company and they need to put in a 3rd party claim.

@SuzySizzle I understand I can’t make them do anything but they also can’t make me pay out of my own pocket.

I have spoken to my insurance, I can’t claim for someone else’s property on my insurance. I assume it’s the same as car insurance I’d only be able to claim for my car that is insured not someone else’s. They have told me in order to claim damages they need to go through their insurers who will in turn contact mine.

They have threatened to take me to the smalls claims court but I’ve offered a reasonable solution so I don’t know how far they would get with that.

Your neighbours will have to prove you were negligent to make a successful claim against you, @Soher. If the leak was under your flooring and you had no way of knowing about it until they told you, and you then got it fixed as soon as you were aware, there is no negligence.

Please do not offer / agree to make any payments directly to your neighbour. It is annoying for them, but that does not make you legally liable for their damage.

Source - 20 years dealing with insurance claims

Can you ask them WHY they are asking you for the money and not going through their insurance

@Justme2023123 thanks for your reply.
does that mean they’re unable to take me to the small claims court too?
they’ve apparently spoken to their insurance company now however they’re requesting I pay their excess which is £1200 which I can’t afford to do.

My dad is experiencing a leak right now from a flat upstairs, which is being flooded by the flat above it. They still cannot identify the source and the flat above is looking at a ceiling coming down tomorrow. They only just refurbished their flat beautifully last year, what a total shame. What I can't figure out is that the flat owner only needs contents insurance and the leaseholder will pay for the buildings insurance. The contents insurance will only cover painting but not structural work like plastering or painting. I will watch your case with interest. Btw, this active leak is currently being investigated by plumbers sent by the leaseholder.

I wonder if they have insurance. Don't get into further discussions with them.

This sounds familiar , did you not post previously? it should be covered by the communal buildings policy, but you may need to pay the excess.

This has happened a lot in our block over the years.
They need to put in a claim either to their own or the communal building insurance and pay the excess.
It seems tough, but that's just how it is.

Theres no way there their excess will be £1200

Given it's flooding damage, compulsory and voluntary excess could be £1600. As it's a non fault claim, it is likely that their insurer could claim this back from yours and reimburse it. They might now know this?

If your dad owns his flat he's the leaseholder. It's the freeholder who organises building insurance (can be a management company or the flat owners jointly, if it's a share of freehold property) When you live in a flat, the whole building has to be insured as one so that the shared parts are insured (like the roof, walls, staircases etc) Then all the flat owners pay their share of the total amount.
Then the flat owners just buy their individual contents insurance.
I'm a bit surprised OP and her neighbour don't have joint building insurance for this reason, even though it's only 2 flats there are still common parts of the building.

If you have legal protection ask to speak to legal team via your insurance company.
No way there insurance payment is £1200 excess they are trying to do you over.
They can threaten small claims, but its similar money to pay the court fee to list it based on approx damage and a judge would not be pleased if it ever got listed as proper channels are to go through insurance.
Ask for everything in writing don't go on anything they "say" and just honestly say, I don't have any spare money and I'm leaving up to the insurance company to sort. Speak to them, that's what they are there for." It's a mantra. Don't engage x

You've done nothing wrong. Accidents happen all the time it's exactly what you have insurance for!

I suggest you tell them to go through the claim process and that you assume your insurance will cover the excess.

The excess on the contents insurance for one flat is £1200? Sounds fishy. The excess on the building policy for our whole block of 64 flats is £1000! The excess for our flat's contents insurance is £50!

Put the timeline of events down in writing and speak to them if you are able. If not write to them, copying in advice from your insurance company.