UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi, looking for some advice. My flat is managed by a letting agent and is currently occupied by a tenant. Unfortunately a broken pipe in the bathroom  toilet caused some flood damage to the bathroom and also to the flat below. The letting agent quickly arranged for a plumber to fix the pipe.

The occupier of the flat below wants me to pay for the flood damage to his property  but I believe he should make a claim with his own insurance company, the damage is the result of a broken pipe and not any carelessness by the tenant.

Any advice or feedback would be much appreciated, thanks.
Ron

A subject dear to my heart at present.The owner of the flat above one of my rentals has apparently been bodging shower leaks with a bit of sealant for a year or two.This came to light during refurbishment of my place,when the ceiling collapsed due to structural damage.I had to do all the legwork,and after the excess I was still out of pocket.he did not even offer to split the cost with me.
I know this is probably different in that you had no idea about the problem,but morally I still think you should offer.When gales blew part of my fence into a neighbours garden a few years ago I paid to replace the garden ornaments and plants that were damaged.

Quote from: Ron on January 26, 2022, 03:01:27 PMThe occupier of the flat below wants me to pay for the flood damage to his property  but I believe he should make a claim with his own insurance company, the damage is the result of a broken pipe and not any carelessness by the tenant.

This is what I've never truly 'got' about Insurance... and it's why I'm as insured as little as I must be, no more. Everyone reading this will 100% accept that this incident is not your fault. It isn't. No-one goes around checking their hidden pipes every year. The Tenant is also not at fault. And - certainly - the resident below is not at fault.

So... no-one is at fault.

Yet someone (or some organisation) must end up paying.

Why?

Why must the resident below make a claim on their own Insurance? It will cost them. They are clearly not at fault. There will be an Excess and we all know their premium next year will go up. Even though it is not their fault. But, of course, you can say... this is why they have Insurance, right?

It cannot feel fair.

The Tenant is also off the hook.

To me, in my mind, this leaves you... and you weren't even there! It's certainly not your fault. But you owned the thing that failed... the thing that went wrong. You didn't know it was going to go wrong, you had no hints. You can't be blamed. But you can stand tall, take it onto your shoulders and do the right thing.

Even if it cannot feel fair... you have to make it feel fair (responsible, moral).

This is not a legal viewpoint / advice.

For me I would have already offered.

I remember a few years ago I was painting parts of my parapets in Sandtex black masonry paint. I had checked both Alexa's view of the weather and the BBC website - both said there was no chance of rain. I started off and there was no rain, until about 15 minutes after I'd finished everything... and it was light rain... so I'd gone inside and I admit I didn't even notice!!! When I went out next I saw the apartment directly under my parapets had black paint running all down its cream. I knocked on my neighbour's door... apologised... promised I would go and buy the matching cream Dulux Weathershield and paint the whole face so it didn't looked patched-up. This was my fault. I accept that. But I always felt I just got really unlucky. Could I have blamed it on the weather, saying that I had done all the checks I could reasonably think of doing? Could I have left it? Could I have suggested it might be an Insurance job for down below? I don't think so.

My claim arose just a few days before the quote arrived for the next 12 months insurance.Guess what,the  excess went from £250 to 500 for water leaks.As we have block insurance now,at least the cretin upstairs will be  affected too. If my dogs crap on someone's  lawn,it is not actually my fault,but they are my dogs and I clean up after them.