Water damage from overhead apartment.

Dinarius

There is a water leak in the upstairs apartment that has damaged the ceiling and walls of the bathroom in our apartment below it.

We let this apartment. We do not live in it.

Is this an issue between us and and the owners of the upstairs apartment, which is also let.

Or, is it a management company issue?

The damage to our ceiling and walls is extensive and will be expensive to fix, I imagine.

Thanks.

D.

meijin

Dinarius wrote: »

There is a water leak in the upstairs apartment that has damaged the ceiling and walls of the bathroom in our apartment below it.

We let this apartment. We do not live in it.

Is this an issue between us and and the owners of the upstairs apartment, which is also let.

Or, is it a management company issue?

I guess depends on the cause, for example
- tenants upstairs left water running and flooded the place, or
- rain gets inside the walls some way (as was in my case)

Sierra Oscar

*Usually* the block insurance will cover damage caused by escapes of water. There will probably be an excess, but ultimately that is something that the owner of the apartment above you will have to worry about if the leak is originating in their apartment. You should contact your management company, tell them what has happened and ask them what the procedure is for making a claim off the block policy.

Jmc25

I'd say management company should be first port of call, they'll probably want to determine the source of the leak themselves.

If it's coming from a communal area (which can be the case even if it seems like it's coming from directly upstairs), they're fully responsible for all repairs and the excess on the block insurance.

If, as seems likely, it is coming from directly upstairs then the block insurance should still cover it. However you may actually be liable for the excess if you've to make the claim, even though neither you nor your tenants are to blame. If this is the case then if the owner of the upstairs unit may agree to contribute some or all of the cost, but might not be under any actual obligation to.

That's just my experience though, seems to vary depending on the management company and block policy.

Your whole experience here will come down to how switched on and engaged the property manager is. If they're not engaging with you or fobbing you off, I'd suggest hounding them to within an inch of their life.

Dinarius

Thanks for the replies.

It’s a tiny development of only four units, so all four owners are “the management company”.

I’m going to see it for myself this morning.

It certainly wasn’t rain.

If it’s comes to a claim, then the excess might be taken from the management company rainy day fund, I guess.

Anyway, very useful insights.

Thanks again.

D.

Dinarius

Two weeks on........

The source of the leak was the back of a dishwasher.

It seems that the upstairs tenants didn't notice the leak until the water had made its way into the room under the flooring.

The dishwasher has been replaced and the leak appears to have been dealt with.

However, enough time and water had accumulated for it to soak through the concrete slab that forms that part of the upstairs apartment's floor and about 1m squared of the ceiling of our apartment's bathroom below.

So, right now our tenants have a very damp ceiling and it can't be painted.

Might there be risk of structural damage to the concrete?

Should we get an insurance company's engineer's report?

Any other advice?

This has been a bit of a mare.

Thanks.

D.

listermint

The issue will lie with the insurers of the owner above. The concrete will be fine but you may have to pull down the ceiling in your affected areas. Wet or rotten Battons behind the board's and then replace all and skim.

Dinarius

Many thanks.

There is no dropped/battened ceiling.

The concrete is a smooth finish and has only ever been treated with anti-mold white paint. So, it's easy in that regard.

As far as insurance is concerned; the four of us in the management company are jointly insured. There are only four apartments in the development.

Maybe it's best to sit it out and wait for the concrete to dry out and not involve insurance. There is far more inconvenience than actual damage, to be honest, or so it would appear.

Thanks again.

D.

HeidiHeidi

I had exactly the same scenario on two separate occasions in the past - an apartment let by a landlord directly above the one let by me below had a leak in the bathroom (think a dodgy seal around the bath/shower), there was water damage to the ceilings and walls in the hall/sitting room below.


The landlord above took all responsibility, got the leak fixed (not properly the first time, evidently), and paid for repainting of the damaged areas in my apartment.


It all took time, and was quite a PITA, but he was more than fair to deal with. I consulted the management company to inform the owner above that the leak had happened, and he then got in touch with me - but other than that they had no involvement in the situation after that.