UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi all,

I am very new to the landlord game. This is our first time letting our property. It's a Victorian conversion with a share of freehold. There was a mild leak from the flat above and now we have work due including mould removal and a repaint. Can anyone explain the legalities behind who is responsible for paying in this situation? And/or the logistics of going through the buildings insurance, if that is the correct thing to do. We want to make sure we know our stuff before approaching the landlord upstairs.
I tried a few searches on this topic, but couldn't find any relevant answers, so apologies if this has already been answered a million times.
Thank you,
Oli Deans.

I manage a flat that has been flooded twice thanks to leaks from the flat above and I had to go through insurance in the end as the upstairs leaseholder was unresponsive. The excess was picked up by the general service charge for the whole block and luckily it is quite a large block so it amounted to just a few £s per flat. Not sure anyone would have been happy to pay the £500 excess has there just been three or four flats to split it between.