Leak costs

apache

Had a bad leak spring up in my kitchen and bathroom overnight. It's dripping water inside. Rang the out of hours maintainance company emergency phone number. Apparently a kitchen pipe burst 4 stories up. When everything dries out and if there's damage will the management company be liable for costs? The water was coming down the walls and the smoke alarms and the bathroom fan. I can see damage being left.

Caranica

Block insurance should cover it but those policies will generally have very high excesses. Who is responsible for paying that is a big question.

HeidiHeidi

I had a leak in the apartment above mine on a couple of occasions - the leak was from their bathroom, and damaged ceilings and walls in my bathroom/hall/living room.

The owner of the apartment above paid for all repairs.

The management company acted as a broker of sorts, putting us in contact etc, but there was never any question of the block insurance covering the damage.

apache

I think if you can pinpoint the offending apt you try and get them to pay if there's any damage. If it's from a common area it's management company. But yes the excess is high.

I'll just have to wait till it dries out. I really didn't need this.

DownByTheGarden

Happened to me before. Culprit was an apartment 2 floors up. You contact the MC. They send someone out to find the source. Its their problem to get fixed and to get the repairs to the damage to yours and your other neighbors apartments done too. Nether myself nor the person above me had to pay any excess for the repairs in our apartments. Dont know about the owner of the leaky one. Never met him.

If you find the MC difficult to speak to about it, engage a solicitor to speak to them. I got a family friend solicitor to do my talking for me as I found they were throwing out all sorts of imaginary conditions at myself and the upstairs neighbor. First they wanted us to pay excess. Then they wanted us to engage our own builders to fix up our places. Then they didnt want to pay for damages furniture or flooring either. All got sorted out when someone who knew what they were talking about (solicitor) was on to them. I sear some people in these MCs make it up as they go along.

apache

Thinking back I've had a few leaks. One above me the owner paid for. And one from rain the management company sorted with no excess. They will probably try and fob me off though.

I also sent them an email officially to report it. The guy in this morning said it was from a burst kitchen pipe 4 floors up. It must have done a lot of damage.

apache

The management company is sending out a loss adjuster tomorrow to assess the damage. At least that's something. It looks like the money is coming from the block insurance.

How reasonable is it for me to expect things to be fixed the way they were? The light fittings, smoke alarm and extractor fan are damaged. So are the walls and ceilings. I think the oven might be bust too.

DownByTheGarden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120982293#Comment_120982293

You should be ok. All damage should be put right. Just make sure you make your own list and take notes on everything with the loss adjuster. Point out everything no matter how small to him and make sure he notes it all.