Tenant caused a leak in the apartment, causing water damage to some of my belongings

Not really.

Find out from the tenant, who installed the kitchen. If a professional plumber or fitter did it, then you may be able to claim off their professional insurance.

If the tenant themselves did it, then you can claim from them on the basis that they're not qualified to do plumbing work, but good luck getting them to pay up.

Ultimately this is why you should have renter's insurance.

I'd try to resolve it with the tenant first.

If no go then the management company who will have block insurance.

And if no go send a solicitors letter to both.

sheroman01 wrote: »

Tenant did it themselves.

In an ideal world we all should have insurance. It's only a 6 months lease, with an option for 1 year. Rent alone is a fortune. Getting insurance on top of this was not in my plans.

First off, how or why would a landlord allow a tenant to carry out renovations? unless they were qualified, not a good idea. As for insurance, I think property insurance for a rented property is a good idea, not sure by renters insurance if someone means property insurance but as you have no cover for personal items, seems like a bit of a risk to take, you took it and lost, now, someone else is at fault. Rental insurance if it is even available here would seem to cover damages, but I think only a form of personal items cover is available here? I cant imagine it being expensive to get and would surely be transferrable by updating an address.

hardly seems to be the management company fault though?
You say the landlord doesnt have insurance for tenants belongings, which is fair enough, this suggests you informed the landlord and arent guessing at that, where Im going is, make sure you formally inform the landlord promptly or you could find yourself getting faulted for breach of your lease, reporting ensures the landlord can can claim against their building insurance, shows you dealt with it as much as possible.

seamus wrote: »

coylemj asks about the car above because as a rule of thumb, if the tenant doesn't have a car then the chance of them having enough money to pay compensation is pretty small.

However, you may be able to use the small claims procedure to claim for minor property damage.

First thing I'd do though is go up and have a word with him and explain that the leak has damaged your laptop and you need him to pay for it. The worst thing he can do is close the door in your face.

Not quite sure how you know that? I missed where that was said???
Thought they were going to suggest via their car insurance, but was not sure how??

Small claim might be the way to go, would have to be under the specified value, have a chat alright, I cant imagine it would go far but worth a try, how do you value or prove the damage was caused at the time?

Spook_ie wrote: »

Would the LL of the leaking property not have buildings insurance which might cover 3rd party claims?

Buildings cover maybe, how would that cover the tenants personal property? and why would the landlord make a claim themselves, when they are not at fault other than to rectify the damage caused to the building?

1874 wrote: »

Not quite sure how you know that? I missed where that was said???
Thought they were going to suggest via their car insurance, but was not sure how??

I know someone who's recently been stiffed by a builder to the tune of ten grand. He managed to get a solicitor to give him a free consultation to discuss his options. The solicitor laid out the reality of how much it would actually cost to recover that ten grand through court (6-10 grand). Then asked if they had looked up the address of the builder on Google street view. They had; a council estate.

"And does his house look like it belongs to someone who has 20 grand to spare?"

If you want someone to give you €1,000 to replace your laptop you have to ask whether they are likely to have €1,000 on hand to give you. If you try to sue them you might just end up poorer and unhappier.
Not having a car is a decent rule of thumb - though if someone is in the city centre they may just choose not to.

I asked if the tenant had a car as a test to see if he/she had any assets worth chasing in the event that the OP got a judgement. If not, it would be throwing good money after bad to sue and end up with a useless piece of paper.

The OP has no contents insurance and I can't see how the landlord could be held liable. It's been suggested that the OP sue the plumber or kitchen fitter but can he do that when he had no contract with them? My understanding of the process is that it would be up to the OP to sue the tenant and the tenant in turns sues the plumber or kitchen guy for professional negligence.

Looks like a dead end to me.

Block insurance would have an excess much higher than a laptop. Solicitors letter would be a further waste of money, *two* solicitors letters and you've bought a new laptop

4ensic15 wrote: »

People in council houses often have loads of money. They don't waste their money on mortgage payments or the maintenance of a property.

But they typically have no assets that the sheriff can seize in lieu of a judgement.