A couple of days ago, the owner of the flat below mine came round and told me that she believes there is a damaging leak from my property into hers. Her flat is currently on the market, and has had an offer subject to survey. The survey has come back saying there is significant water damage to the kitchen floor and it will cost around £8000 to fix (property is only worth about £60k). I believe it has been a structural survey rather than a normal buyers survey, as apparantly the damage isn't visable or at all obvious.
The owner of downstairs has had a plumber in, who has found no leaks, only a slight water mark on the wall of the water cupboard (which is directly below our water cupboard).
Our cupboard at the time was bone dry, I lifted the vinyl around the sink and beside the washing machine and there are no signs of any water damage. I've also lifted the carpet of the bathroom (on the other side of the cupboard) and there's no water damage on the floorboards there either.
Yesterday, after significant rain, I looked in the cupboard again. There was newspaper around the pipes which had been dry at the beginning of the week (although had at some point been wet), and was now wet. I spoke to my mum, and apparantly there had been a small leak in the roof a couple of years ago which was causing water to drip down through our cupboard and into theirs. My dad fixed it up, and the owners husband agreed with him that it was now ok. I'm waiting on my dad to come over tomorrow and check if the leak has re-opened somehow.
Is it possible for a small leak to cause the sort of damage they are talking about to their floors, but barely even leave a mark in our property?
My major concern is that they may know the cause of the damage, and don't want to pay out before they can sell (they rent a lot of places, so to them it's all about cash).
Both flats went up for sale around the same time almost 4 years ago. Mine was abandoned and then repossessed and the girl downstairs had moved in with her partner so her flat was also empty. At some point during this time, before either flat was put up for sale, there was a flood from upstairs which caused significant damage to downstairs. When it was noticed, the water was turned off completely, and the owner of downstairs had her kitchen completely redone on insurance.
I'm a little worried that the damage they have found has been there the whole time they have owned the property, and this is the first structural survey that has been done.
Obviously we don't want to have to pay for something that has been there before we bought this place. I'm concerned that even if it has been there for 4 years, that they will claim the smallest leak is the cause and claim from us.
Does anyone have any suggestions about dealing with this? They are landlords, which worries me, as it means they can be pushy and can probably get quite nasty.
Is there anywhere else I should look? I've not pulled out the washing machine yet, as it's in tightly, but that will be done tomorrow.
Thanks for any advice
Siobhan xx
The owner of downstairs has had a plumber in, who has found no leaks, only a slight water mark on the wall of the water cupboard (which is directly below our water cupboard).
Our cupboard at the time was bone dry, I lifted the vinyl around the sink and beside the washing machine and there are no signs of any water damage. I've also lifted the carpet of the bathroom (on the other side of the cupboard) and there's no water damage on the floorboards there either.
Yesterday, after significant rain, I looked in the cupboard again. There was newspaper around the pipes which had been dry at the beginning of the week (although had at some point been wet), and was now wet. I spoke to my mum, and apparantly there had been a small leak in the roof a couple of years ago which was causing water to drip down through our cupboard and into theirs. My dad fixed it up, and the owners husband agreed with him that it was now ok. I'm waiting on my dad to come over tomorrow and check if the leak has re-opened somehow.
Is it possible for a small leak to cause the sort of damage they are talking about to their floors, but barely even leave a mark in our property?
My major concern is that they may know the cause of the damage, and don't want to pay out before they can sell (they rent a lot of places, so to them it's all about cash).
Both flats went up for sale around the same time almost 4 years ago. Mine was abandoned and then repossessed and the girl downstairs had moved in with her partner so her flat was also empty. At some point during this time, before either flat was put up for sale, there was a flood from upstairs which caused significant damage to downstairs. When it was noticed, the water was turned off completely, and the owner of downstairs had her kitchen completely redone on insurance.
I'm a little worried that the damage they have found has been there the whole time they have owned the property, and this is the first structural survey that has been done.
Obviously we don't want to have to pay for something that has been there before we bought this place. I'm concerned that even if it has been there for 4 years, that they will claim the smallest leak is the cause and claim from us.
Does anyone have any suggestions about dealing with this? They are landlords, which worries me, as it means they can be pushy and can probably get quite nasty.
Is there anywhere else I should look? I've not pulled out the washing machine yet, as it's in tightly, but that will be done tomorrow.
Thanks for any advice
Siobhan xx
Also if she did want to kick a fuss up about it it would be a claim by her insurance company vs your insurance company. Now if your in flats, i presume you have common building insurance via the Factor so the claim would be fairly simple but you wouldn't be liable for the cost. I got flooded by the flat 2 floors above me, as did my upstairs neighbour. Both our claims went through the building insurance with the factor.