Damage by tenant

[George38]

I own a flat above a small retail shop and the flat has been let unfurnished on a shorthold tenancy agreement. The tenant opened the door of her washing machine and allowed water to pour out which soaked through to the shop below, causing part of the ceiling to collapse.

The obvious procedure for dealing with this kind of problem is to as the insurance company (either mine or the tenant's) to assess the damage with the view to settling a claim. However,the shop owner organised a repair without my knowledge at a cost of just over £1000 making a retrospective insurance claim virtually impossible.The shop owner is now asking me to reimburse her for this expense and is threatening me to sue me if i don't.

I am unclear where the law stands on who is responsible, me as the owner of the flat, or the tenant who caused the damage in the first place through an act of stupidity!

I have been given 7 days to pay up....or else!!!

[wolf63]

I'm with Helen - your tenant did not do this on purpose. I wouldn't have thought that a washing machine would have held enough water to have caused all that damage in one incident.

I have flooded out my downstairs neighbour and he had to claim on his insurance.

[George38]

I realise that the tenant didn't do it on purpose Helen, and that accidents can happen. I think the shop owner told the tenant that the water damage had occurred and the tenant assumed that I, as the owner of the flat would pay for the damage with the result that the shop owner went ahead with the repair.

However, £1000 is not an insignificant amount and I would like to know where the law stands on who is responsible for the repair. I want to differentiate between moral responsibility and legal responsibility since the latter would be the only factor that any solicitor acting for the shop owner would consider! The following is an extract from guide document that I saw online but I am loth to act on it as it may be just a non-legal guide and want to be sure of my legal rights:
"Guidelines for residents
Should water damage occur to the contents of the flat below due to an overflowing bath/washing machine, this may not be covered by any buildings or landlord’s contents insurance policy and any claim would be made against you directly which may run into many thousands of pounds".What do you think?

[peter_m]

If you rent any property to individuals or business you need to protect your self with appropriate insurance policy. If you rent out you must have a building insurance or landlord insurance widely advertised for BtL. If you haven't got a building insurance you will be liable and the shop owner may well sue you for the amount and loss of business caused by this incident.

Try to resolve this matter out of court if you are not insured.

[Marsh]

My (totally unqualified) thoughts are that it was the tenant’s washing machine, the tenant opened its door and the tenant told the shop-owner to go ahead, all without involving you. Why should you be expected to reimburse the shopkeeper? The tenant should pay.

However, the law is a funny thing. You need to get professional advice from a solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau.