Flooded Apartment - Options ?

chesby

Hi All ,

Just looking for some advice .

I came back from the beach on Sunday Evening to my entire flat after being flooded . ( Light bulbs full of water , water under wood floors etc.)
Rang the management Company , who said it would be difficult to get a plumber on a Sunday evening .

They sent a handyman , who went upstairs and checked the apartment above mine but found no leak but a spot of damp in the hot press by their cistern , two hours later the water started pouring in again.I called the mgmt Company again who said they would send someone in the morning.

Next morning , I get a call from the owner of the apartment above saying that she was replacing their cistern as it may have been dripping ( she sent a relative to check out the damage and again he said there was a bit of damp in the hot press) , later their plumber then called to me and informed me that the waste had disconnected from their bath and that's where the water came from , not the cistern .

What are my options here ?.
I don't have insurance as i didn't think id ever need it :rolleyes: . ( i know.....
I literally cant afford to even go down the solicitor route due to financial issues.

Is the owner above liable to pay ? .
Can I claim off the Block policy ? .
Do i have any comeback from the mgmt Company who couldn't find any leak ?
They sent down a handyman and not a plumber which would have allowed it to flood again two hours later..

The place is basically unlivable and i cant afford to fix it :(

BrokenArrows

chesby wrote: »

Hi All ,

Just looking for some advice .

I came back from the beach on Sunday Evening to my entire flat after being flooded . ( Light bulbs full of water , water under wood floors etc.)
Rang the management Company , who said it would be difficult to get a plumber on a Sunday evening .

They sent a handyman , who went upstairs and checked the apartment above mine but found no leak but a spot of damp in the hot press by their cistern , two hours later the water started pouring in again.I called the mgmt Company again who said they would send someone in the morning.

Next morning , I get a call from the owner of the apartment above saying that she was replacing their cistern as it may have been dripping ( she sent a relative to check out the damage and again he said there was a bit of damp in the hot press) , later their plumber then called to me and informed me that the waste had disconnected from their bath and that's where the water came from , not the cistern .

What are my options here ?.
I don't have insurance as i didn't think id ever need it :rolleyes: . ( i know.....
I literally cant afford to even go down the solicitor route due to financial issues.

Is the owner above liable to pay ? .
Can I claim off the Block policy ? .
Do i have any comeback from the mgmt Company who couldn't find any leak ?
They sent down a handyman and not a plumber which would have allowed it to flood again two hours later..

The place is basically unlivable and i cant afford to fix it :(

The owner above is 100% liable for all your damages.
Speak to them and ask them for their insurance company details and policy number. File a claim with them.
If they dont have an insurance policy then you need to figure out how they are going to pay for the damages. It could get very ugly.

Also get insurance NOW. Like right now!. If the same thing was to happen to the apartment below yours because your bath leaked you would be 100% liable for their damages, and since you cant afford a solicitor i doubt you can afford to pay 10k in property damages.

Caranica

BrokenArrows wrote: »

The owner above is 100% liable for all your damages.
Speak to them and ask them for their insurance company details and policy number. File a claim with them.
If they dont have an insurance policy then you need to figure out how they are going to pay for the damages.

Also get insurance NOW. Like right now!. If the same thing was to happen to your apartment below because your bath leaked you would be 100% liable for their damages, and since you cant afford a solicitor i doubt you can afford to pay 10k in property damages.

In an apartment you can only insure contents, the management company insure the buildings as they own the buildings. The big problem with that is that block insurance usually has huge excesses, ours is 5k.

Lantus

Assuming you are the owner? What is the damage? Sounds localised to one area based on cause. Your contents insurance covers your stuff. Anything other than what was there when you moved in. Clothes, furniture, TV etc. You cannot claim off someone else's policy, this isn't car insurance.

Block policy covers the building which can include plasterboard and skirting and the kitchen if fitted at purchase. A leak upstairs damaging your ceiling is called consequential loss. However, to claim for low value plasterboard in a single place is often not feasible as the excess can be many thousands. Many apartment owners now purchase a seperate insurance policy to cover the excess on the block policy as well as a contents policy.

As you have neither any contents damaged will have to be replaced at your cost and any ceiling or building damage on the block policy but with you covering the excess. The damage needs to be more than the excess to warrant a claim. So if the excess is 4k and the repairs are 3k there is no payout on the block policy. You just pay 3k to repair. If the works are 6k then you pay 4k and the policy the 2k difference.

Sorry to hear though. Try to salvage and dry out what you can and plan for at least contents cover in the future. Look into excess insurance.

whippet

as similar thing happened my brother - caused about €11k worth of damage - as he was away for a few weeks and wasn't there to spot the leak early and the apartment over him didn't know there was a leak.

He went through everything and in the end as he didn't have excess insurance he had to make a claim on the block insurance and fork out the €5k excess on the policy.

So despite doing nothing wrong (apart from not insuring the excess) he was €5k in the hole to get his property repaired.

Lantus

BrokenArrows wrote: »

The owner above is 100% liable for all your damages.
Speak to them and ask them for their insurance company details and policy number. File a claim with them.
If they dont have an insurance policy then you need to figure out how they are going to pay for the damages. It could get very ugly.

Also get insurance NOW. Like right now!. If the same thing was to happen to the apartment below yours because your bath leaked you would be 100% liable for their damages, and since you cant afford a solicitor i doubt you can afford to pay 10k in property damages.

This isn't correct. Generally you only claim on your own policy and the insurer may claim costs on the other party if they have a policy and usually if negligence can be shown. It's highly complex and of course in this scenario you both have the same buildings insurer via the block policy. Most insurers will fight tooth and nail against paying out like this and negligence can be very hard to prove. In this case especially. But again you both have the same common insurance and often floors are excluded.

chesby

BrokenArrows wrote: »

The owner above is 100% liable for all your damages.
Speak to them and ask them for their insurance company details and policy number. File a claim with them.
If they dont have an insurance policy then you need to figure out how they are going to pay for the damages. It could get very ugly.

Also get insurance NOW. Like right now!. If the same thing was to happen to the apartment below yours because your bath leaked you would be 100% liable for their damages, and since you cant afford a solicitor i doubt you can afford to pay 10k in property damages.

I've asked her for her Details and shes taking the stance that i should be perusing this with the management Company.I received a text this morning telling me not to bother her again :mad:

chesby

Lantus wrote: »

Assuming you are the owner? What is the damage? Sounds localised to one area based on cause. Your contents insurance covers your stuff. Anything other than what was there when you moved in. Clothes, furniture, TV etc. You cannot claim off someone else's policy, this isn't car insurance.

Block policy covers the building which can include plasterboard and skirting and the kitchen if fitted at purchase. A leak upstairs damaging your ceiling is called consequential loss. However, to claim for low value plasterboard in a single place is often not feasible as the excess can be many thousands. Many apartment owners now purchase a seperate insurance policy to cover the excess on the block policy as well as a contents policy.

As you have neither any contents damaged will have to be replaced at your cost and any ceiling or building damage on the block policy but with you covering the excess. The damage needs to be more than the excess to warrant a claim. So if the excess is 4k and the repairs are 3k there is no payout on the block policy. You just pay 3k to repair. If the works are 6k then you pay 4k and the policy the 2k difference.

Sorry to hear though. Try to salvage and dry out what you can and plan for at least contents cover in the future. Look into excess insurance.

Unfortunately i'm the owner and the buck seems to stop with me in terms of paying for this mess. .

Water came through the area of my hot press and ran across the ceiling and came down through the light fitting flooding the bathroom . Water then ran under the walls into both Bedrooms.Damage to plasterboard , Fuse box , carpets and woods floors. My living room and kitchen is fine , and thank god ive no damage to personnel items such as laptops TVs.

chesby

Lantus wrote: »

This isn't correct. Generally you only claim on your own policy and the insurer may claim costs on the other party if they have a policy and usually if negligence can be shown. It's highly complex and of course in this scenario you both have the same buildings insurer via the block policy. Most insurers will fight tooth and nail against paying out like this and negligence can be very hard to prove. In this case especially. But again you both have the same common insurance and often floors are excluded.

The loss assessor came today to survey the damage .He took photos of the damage and took readings with his dampness meter .

As other have stated he kind of shocked me when he stated that the owner above might not have any liability as this was an accident and that "she did fix it by sending a plumber" even if he did arrive late on Monday morning.

The loss assessor now is stating my best course of action is to pursue the mgmt Company's Block insurance. I'm due to hear back from him in a day or two id imagine.In the mean time ill just have to try and put things back to together as best i can

He didn't seem any bit concerned that the owner of the Apartment above didn't send an actual professional to look and resolve the issue until Monday morning. .I think this is negligent ?? shes on the record saying that "her father in law" saw no water or dampness in her flat causing mine to flood multiple times again on that night. If i had money for legal advice i could probably peruse this but alas.....

Lantus

Drainage elements are typically boxed in and hidden. Very rarely fail in this manner. It really is just a freak accident and no one is negligent. (possibly original builder but you would have zero hope of proving and even less on getting money from them)

Check block policy on what it covers and excess.

chesby

BrokenArrows wrote: »

The owner above is 100% liable for all your
Also get insurance NOW. Like right now!. If the same thing was to happen to the apartment below yours because your bath leaked you would be 100% liable for their damages, and since you cant afford a solicitor i doubt you can afford to pay 10k in property damages.

Funnily enough , one of the reasons i didn't bother getting insurance at the time was that there's no one underneath me besides the gate so i thought why do i need insurance :rolleyes:.

redarmyblues

Lantus wrote: »

Drainage elements are typically boxed in and hidden. Very rarely fail in this manner. It really is just a freak accident and no one is negligent. (possibly original builder but you would have zero hope of proving and even less on getting money from them)

Check block policy on what it covers and excess.

Freak accident me hole, replacing a cistern because of leak me arse, if there was a leak the failing part, washer, valve, whatever would be replaced. It's seems a bit of a coincidence that the cistern replacement would occur at the same time as the waste on the bath failing. I think Mr So Called Handyman might have had a hand in this, maybe he was trying to unblock the bath waste or some other messing but I would go down to Messes Sue Gabbit and Runner and get them to write a letter requesting that your expert examine the upstairs apartment to determine cause. If they refuse, that implies they liable. I mean how do they know it's the bath waste without removing the bath which is probably tiled in.

You should get a first consultation for free. At least ask can your plumber have a look.