insurance

[djhammer]

hi we rent of the council and last year a pipe burst in the loft which caused our property to get damaged but we do not have home insurance so we claimed of the councils insurance and we recived a letter today to say they will not accept libilty could any one please tell me what we can do now thanks

[bednobs]

nothing. You will just have to replace the damaged stuff yourself and get insurance for the future.

[Buenchico]

The council's insurance will cover them (not you) for two things:

Firstly, their insurance will cover them for any damage to the building (not to your property) caused by such things as a burst pipe. This is because the building is their property and, as a duty to council tax payers, they're obliged to ensure that they keep the building in good condition and avoid large bills for repairing unexpected damage.

Secondly, their insurance will include 'third party cover'. This insures them against a successful claim being brought against them because of their negligence (or the negligence of their employees or agents). For example, if a council employee had carried out a poor-quality repair to the pipework in your loft, resulting in flooding and damage to your property, the insurance would cover any claim by you, for repairs and replacement of your property, because of the negligence of their employee.

However, it seems extremely unlikely that the burst pipe could be attributed to any negligence by the council. Your only chance of proving negligence would be if, for example, you could show that the council had told you that they had lagged the pipes in your loft but they had actually failed to do so.

As stated, the council's insurance only relates to damage to your property caused by their negligence. Any other cover is your responsibility. So, unless you can prove negligence occurred, neither the council nor their insurers should pay for the damage.

Chris

[tubeway]

What can you do now - take out home contents insurance in case anythinh happens in future. Yes it will cost you money - but it is cheaper than replacing your stuff

[themas]

I would incline to dispute Chris's view that the Council has probably not been negligent. I think this depends on the exact reason why the pipe burst. For example, if the loft was not insulated then I would see it as negligent for them to have failed to do this, because it has been well known for many many years that this can result in frozen and burst pipes in the loft. On the other hand, if they had told you the loft was not insulated then it would be much more difficult for you to argue negligence.

You need to find out the precise cause of the burst (perhaps the Freedom of Information Act could help if necessary?) and then go back to them claiming negligence if appropriate.

[munchie63]

not much help for the damaged stuff, but you should get insurance for the future.

My home insurance with the post office covers contents up to �20, 000 and I'm paying �2 a week.
worth it for the peace of mind.