Neighbour's burst pipe has wrecked my property but they won't claim?

[Finwoodhill]

I own a ground floor flat which I rent out. My tennant returned after a ten day break to find water running down the bedroom walls, the carpet, electrics and floor totally saturated and the place stinking (it had been pristine before). My plumber cut a hole in the ceiling to find the cause of the leak and after some investigation it turned out to be a broken waste pipe from the kitchen of the property above. Even though the neighbour (who also owns the freehold to my property) came down to have a look and turn taps on and off to help locate the source of the leak, they made no mention of contacting their insurers or it being their problem. My own Landlords Insurance policy has an excess of £500 for water damage so if I persue a claim with them I will be out of pocket (and I don't think I should be as it's not my fault) I emailed the neighbour last night to ask if they would contact their insurers but have not recieved any reply (he will def have received my email). My tennant is being reasonably tolerant and sleeping on a sofa bed, but even with two noisy humidifiers running it's going to take ages to dry out and for the smell to go (as it's ground floor on a main road we can't even leave windows open to ventilate) Any ideas how I get this sorted without it costing me? My insurers say that I have to prove 'negligence' to get the neighbours to cough up and this isn't (apparantly)

[fairkatrina]

it will depend on your policy but if you're covered for 3rd party (or even accidental) damage then your insurers should cough up for your claim, then recoup the costs from your neighbour's insurers, without involving you. Unfortunately you may still be liaible for the excess, you would probably have to take your neighbour to small claims court to recoup that. Most insurance companies will only deal with the repair to the insured property, so the neighbour probably couldn't claim for your property on their policy anyway, even if you were both agreeable to that. I'd contact your insurance company again and be a bit tougher with them, providing of course that it's worth the £500 excess. If you're drying the property yourself (which I assume you are) don't waste a fortune just installing a couple of dehumidifiers and airmovers and leaving them for weeks, strip out anything that's soaking wet (I assume plaster and the flooring) then focus on the hard to dry materials such as brick. Anything else should dry out on its own quite quickly once the leak has been stopped. Good luck!

[Finwoodhill]

Thank you - i think as it's a waste pipe and the water will contain bacteria then we'll have to strip out the lot anyway but thanks for your advice.

[woozer]

Get you insurer involved immediately, for a claim like this the costs are going to be high and they should appoint an adjuster who will help. You are already running up a fair old electricity bill with the dryingout machinery you are using and you need to be able to prove this extra cost so that you can get it back off the neighbour. If your neighbour is insured he should get his insurer invloved straightaway it is almost certain that your insurer will be successful in reclaiming their costs from him or his insurer and you will also get your excess back. Give your neighbour an estimate of the costs you think are involved I assume we are talking four figures here- he will probably ring his insurers like a shot !

You are going to have to pay out the excess - even though it is not fair. But if you follow the terms and conditions of your own policy by advising your insurer quickly and letting them handle the claim then you are keeping your outlay to a minimum.