Water Damage To My Property

[tiacoco]

Merry xmas and happy new year to ever one when it comes.
Can any one please help me a private rental upstairs flat caused water damage to my kitchen at a cost of £2000.The cause of the leak is unknown to me but i can only guess cold weather we had just before xmas.

My insurance have giving me notice to get all the repairs carried out however my excess is £500 which the insurance company have taken off which means am out of pocket by £500.

I have asked the rental/estate agent who look after the property if the owner who rents out properties as his business, would claim this damage done to my kitchen on his tennants or his own insurance i was told he isnt claiming anything on his insurance
.
I then asked as it was his property that damaged my kitchen and he isnt claiming on his own insurance, would he pay my excess of £500 out of his pocket so that am not out off pocket for something i didnt cause as he isnt claiming on his own insurance.
Can i take him to a SMALL CLAIMS COURT to get my money i lost and if so would i send this paperwork to the letting agent as they will not give me any contact details for him which i understand they said they will contact him and get back to me

So i have no contact details only letting agents he has sent in workmen to repair his flat within days to keep his renters happy as the tennants have confirmed this when i have had to find my own tradesman, who cant start until after xmas holidays so i have lost £500 out of pocket and my no claims bonus. Plus a day cleaning and mopping up my damaged kitchen.
And had to cancel family christmas dinner as i dont have a working kitchen to cook dinner so we had a take away xmas dinner.
Any help and advice on what i should do please as i am getting no response from letting agent/owner. £500 is a lot of money to me which has caused me to take out a loan so i can pay tradesmen when they come.

[barry1010]

Without knowing the cause of the leak it is difficult to give proper advice, the answers are different if it was deliberate/malicious; negligent (such as leaving a tap running with the plug in) or unforeseen and unpreventable.
Also it is important to know who could be liable - the landlord due to lack of maintenance/repair or the tenant for his leaking washing machine etc.

Speak to your neighbour.

[The Builder]

One thing is not clear from your post Tia. I assume that you actually own your flat?
Also, is there a Management Company that controls the whole building (including the flat above you.)

[Meaghan27]

I assume you own your flat, as if not, it's not your responsibility to claim property damage, just contents. Your landlord would be responsible for the repairs.
Secondly, you took out the Insurance knowing there was a £500 excess so I would just put it down to experience. If you decide to pursue through the Small claims court you must prove their liability, and unfortunately a lot of these situations do boil down to 'accidents' and are extremely hard to prove otherwise.

[barry1010]

I cant imagine that the damage was caused by the cold weather this only happens in unheated, uninsulated buidings and outside water pipes. The heat rising from your kitchen would prevent freezing pipes.

[tiacoco]

Yes i own my flat and i did no of the £500 excess but i thought that was only if i caused the damage to my own property.
I thought if someone else damaged it that i would not be responsable for paying excess. If i damaged someones property i would offer to pay for the damage ie excess or at least claim on my insurance so they were not out of pocket.
Think i will just have to put it down to experience and maybe look closer at excess next time,thanks for all the answers.

[barry1010]

Your insurance company may well be claiming back the money from the other insurance company, they wouldn't tell you.
I'd be miffed if I were out of pocket due to another person's actions, too. The few times I've been in a car accident it has always been the other side's fault so I have always got the excess and incidentals repaid from their insurance.

Just a thought, get advice from your own insurance company about claiming the excess back.

[The Builder]

I think you're being very wise to just put it down to experience.
As Meaghan said, insurance cases in these situations are notoriously difficult to prove.

You may well be successful, but even the cost of a couple of solicitor's letters could easily go way above the £500.

[Peter Pedant]

er well - the law answer is - yes you could sue,
it seems that you would have to do it through 'negligence' and this means in the small claims you wd have to show their leak is due to their negligence.

so the advice - meaghan and builder is particularly apt ( leave it)

seems a bit unfair esp as they have damaged your kitchen AND it wd never have occurred if they had been careful ( but you cant really show that) - but you know that is what the law is all about

[barry1010]

I have closed this thread as it is attracting spammers. 

Tiacoco, if you wish to carry on the discussion please start a new thread.