Threatened with legal action

Minime2.5

Im renting a 1 bed apartment in a very old building . I've been here for 5 years and for the most part everything has gone smoothly. In the last few weeks I have left the sink tap on in my bathroom twice which has caused a bit of a flood in my bathroom. The water has has leaked into my sitting room and the carpet outside and the care taker has claimed the water has leaked down to the apartment below and the owner of this apartment plans to send me a solicitor letter for water damage and loss of earnings because the tenent below is moving out. Just wondering what im facing here. The care taker thinks I must have left the tap on for a while but it was only on for a few minutes tops

Fol20

How did it cause a mini flood if you left it on for a few minutes? It sounds like you left it on for longer.

If you cause any damage to the property you live in and the property below due to negligence in your part. I would pay for the damages. Not sure if I would pay for loss of earning from owner below.

This is a threatening letter and just that. It tries to frighten people into doing something that may not be actually worth while chasing down if they actually brought it to the courts.

Generally insurance will not cover water damage within apartments, so costs have to be recouped from whoever has caused the flood. Technically your landlord is responsible for costs, but they are entitled to recoup it off you. Living in an apartment means occupants & owners owe a particular responsibility to one another.

Minime2.5

Fol20 wrote: »

How did it cause a mini flood if you left it on for a few minutes? It sounds like you left it on for longer.

If you cause any damage to the property you live in and the property below due to negligence in your part. I would pay for the damages. Not sure if I would pay for loss of earning from owner below.

This is a threatening letter and just that. It tries to frighten people into doing something that may not be actually worth while chasing down if they actually brought it to the courts.

The drainage in the sink is very slow I dont require a stopper to fill the sink.It would have been 2 or 3 minutes after the sink was full

Fol20

Minime2.5 wrote: »

The drainage in the sink is very slow I dont require a stopper to fill the sink.It would have been 2 or 3 minutes after the sink was full

So the sink can overflow without a stopper?

That is a poorly fitted system then if that’s the case.

H.20v3

LL is negligent for not having proper overflow in rented accommodation

Minime2.5

H.20v3 wrote: »

LL is negligent for not having proper overflow in rented accommodation

Its probably my fault for not saying it to him. The toilet flush isnt great either but I just put up with things as i dont want to be bothering him if I can help it

Minime2.5

Minime2.5 wrote: »

Its probably my fault for not saying it to him. The toilet flush isnt great either but I just put up with things as i dont want to be bothering him if I can help it

Do tell k ok and lord if there are real issues like that. As a landlord I like to know these things so I can address them quickly. I let through an agency, which means tenant can phone them at any time and get things sorted straight away as they have a bank of ready resources.

the_syco

Minime2.5 wrote: »

the care taker

Show the caretaker the issue, and have them fix it?

Minime2.5 wrote: »

Its probably my fault for not saying it to him.

The landlord can't fix what they do not know is broken.

H.20v3

H.20v3 wrote: »

LL is negligent for not having proper overflow in rented accommodation

Or more likely the tenant has blocked it with hair or something else. I have to use drain I blocker every now and then on the sinks and showers otherwise they will clog up.

H.20v3

Nikolas Crooked Cupcake wrote: »

Or more likely the tenant has blocked it with hair or something else. I have to use drain I blocker every now and then on the sinks and showers otherwise they will clog up.

Any sink I ever had that had no overflow

It flooded at one time or another, law of averages

H.20v3

H.20v3 wrote: »

Any sink I ever had that had no overflow

It flooded at one time or another, law of averages

What part of my post are you addressing exactly?

overkill602

You are in that unit for 5 years and this is starting to happen now, maybe your sink is partially blocked.
It is your responsibility as the sitting tenant to report a blockage in the sink if 1 exists, other wise how can the LL with his rights of access are restricted on privacy rules under the RTB.
If you have caused damaged it would be covered by owners insurance if they claim there policies with increase so you are liable.
If you do not pay I am sure it will come out of your deposit.

handlemaster

OP. This happens once that is unfortunate.. twice is negligence. You knew the issue and knew what would happen if you left the taps running to long. But you still turn it on and walked off... who does that plug or no plug !! You also did not tell the LL of the issue. . This is your fault.. take responsibility, why is the landlord always dragged into issues like this father of a kid. The insurance may cover this but if not dont be complaining this is not an accident but negligence on your behalf.

Graces7

Fol20 wrote: »

How did it cause a mini flood if you left it on for a few minutes? It sounds like you left it on for longer.

If you cause any damage to the property you live in and the property below due to negligence in your part. I would pay for the damages. Not sure if I would pay for loss of earning from owner below.

This is a threatening letter and just that. It tries to frighten people into doing something that may not be actually worth while chasing down if they actually brought it to the courts.

Like the letters the electric companies in the UK send out if you are late paying a bill. Way OTT

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

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Like the letters the electric companies in the UK send out if you are late paying a bill. Way OTT

But this isn’t the ops landlord or some faceless service provider, it is a neighbour, they will be a lot more motivated if the ops negligence has damaged their property and cost them income. As another poster said, if it happens once, that’s an accident, if it happens twice, then the op should be accountable.

Graces7

Dav010 wrote: »

But this isn’t the ops landlord or some faceless service provider, it is a neighbour, they will be a lot more motivated if the ops negligence has damaged their property and cost them income. As another poster said, if it happens once, that’s an accident, if it happens twice, then the op should be accountable.

Agree with you but a less aggressive approach?

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

Agree with you but a less aggressive approach?

The op hasn’t yet received anything, I suppose the op could go down and offer to pay for the damage, that would negate the need for a solicitor’s letter/aggressive approach.

Op, have you considered offering to pay for the damage you caused?

Fol20

Dav010 wrote: »

But this isn’t the ops landlord or some faceless service provider, it is a neighbour, they will be a lot more motivated if the ops negligence has damaged their property and cost them income. As another poster said, if it happens once, that’s an accident, if it happens twice, then the op should be accountable.

Your right but from a practical POV,it might be more cost effective to just fix it yourself instead of bringing someone to court for a few hundred.

Morally, yes he should pay for the damages. Financially, it will depend on the value of the damage and if it is worth pursueing

Ray Palmer

Fol20 wrote: »

Your right but from a practical POV,it might be more cost effective to just fix it yourself instead of bringing someone to court for a few hundred.

Morally, yes he should pay for the damages. Financially, it will depend on the value of the damage and if it is worth pursueing

If the tenants downstairs moved out along with plastering and painting it will be more than a few hundred but at least a thousand.

Shuhada Davitt

this exact thing happened to me - i was the neighbour below. the tenant above left on her tap and walked away - she left it running and it flooded into my apartment. it caused damages worth 2800 euro. i had to fork out for the repairs myself, and it took over 2 years before the landlord finally gave in and paid out. i had to get a barrister involved, not your average joe-soap solicitor.

it took 2 years.

do not do that to the victim (tenant below). it had serious negative impact on neighbourly relations (as in there are none now) and an affect on my mental health.

so tbh, i'd be going with the most aggressive approach possible if this was to happen to me again.

If you dont want 2 years of threatening letters and all sorts of sleepless nights worrying about court-dates etc - just pay up now, because it'll just be hell for all involved otherwise.

never let these things drag out.

moral of the story is - you'll be got for the money in the end, so just pay now to save all the hassle to everyone.