Basically the flat beneath mine had some minor blistering/bubbling on their ceiling and they assumed it was water leak from my flat and demanded me paying for the entire ceiling replacement plus a permanent solution to stop any future leak.
My view is they do not have any active water leaking evidence and it is difficult for me to agree with their assumption and demand . Plus leaks do happen and what do they mean by permanent solution ?
Unless the owner of the flat downstairs can show that the blistering is a result of your negligence, then this is something they would have to claim on their insurance. You should get someone in to inspect your flat in case there is a leak, but even then, you would only have liability if you or your tenant knew about it and ignored it or if it was a botched previous repair.
Had similar incident where tiny drip leak occurring from flat above. Was difficult to identify, source was boiler pipework in the end. The block insurance policy paid for the required remedial decoration, via management company.
Do I have to pay for the excess on the insurance ? We have a building insurance covering all flats however it has an excess of 250, I am certain the flat below will demand me to pay for it. What should I do ? Thanks .
My understanding is that in the curcumstances I described above, you would not normally be liable to pay the excess, but the other leaseholder may try to sue you for it.
I forgot to mention earlier, that not replacing worn out water fittings in your flat would also be regarded as negligence. The insurance company may want to conduct an inspection of your flat to establish the cause, which youd have to allow.
The boiler had one leak in the past year and it was fixed . Is it normal to have another leak ? The boiler is 10 years old. But again not sure if it is a boiler leak given they do not show any active leaking evidence. Their ceiling blistering could be caused by all sort of things like they themselves had bad ventilation in their own flat? Just saying . Personally I would not be pressing my neighbor to replace my ceiling and moving my boiler for a leak as the current flat below mind did . The boiler is sitting on the floor and they complained the leaking can only be detected once leaking into their flat (surely all leaking can only be detected once they actually leak into flat below) and demanded me to move my boiler. Unfortunately I have to deal with them .
I would be inspecting their flat initially and then depending on result get a plumber out to look for a leak. Leaks can reoccur any time. Seals fail, allowing for drips to develop. Boilers have a very hard life, they expand and contract all day long, inevitably leaks occur.
Have you got any plastic fittings in the pipe work anywhere? Especially bad where plastic meets copper as can react.
Get them to send a video.
Any damage is likely to be a small area local to leak. Just cut out bad plaster and replace.
Have asked the building management to take a look. In my view it would be unfair for me to pay for expensive call out charge every time they have a blistering on their ceiling and asked me to investigate and pay. What is the boundary on this? They are not the genuine neighbors you could expect - they demanded their entire ceiling to be replaced. Hopefully the building management could be reasonable and provide a good solution .
What’s unfair is that you don’t get the leak sorted and they end up inconvenienced! Leaks have many potential origins, eg someone replaced skirting board, drive nail into plastic pipe. Failing sealant around a bath/shower.
We don’t know if there is a leak! Leaks could be difficult to identify! A ceiling blistering could be caused by many things ! I would not demand my neighbor to spend a fortune to investigate just for some minor blistering on my ceiling! It is called being reasonable !
What’s classed as a fortune? May be identified in minutes.
Can’t you agree with occupier that if turns out to be no leak they will foot the bill for plumber call out?
If the ceiling below is wet from above leak it will be readily apparant. Before anything else they should get the blistering paint off to see bare plaster.
This will be a viable solution I will have to get them to agree to - I was not willing to get in there as it sounds quite uncomfortable. If no leak is visible insight, it could cost thousands of pounds for someone to remove floorboard etc to trace . Also they are not the sort of reasonable neighbors one can expect- they would not do anything from their side apart from assuming something and demanding from others! Thanks for the suggestion.
An investigation shouldnt cost a fortune. It should be fairly cheap. You wouldnt normally be expected to take up floorboards or anything, unless this was required to remedy a leak. Whatever the cost, it will be cheaper than having to fix the leak AND replace the ceiling below because you ignored the issue.
I had a similar problem. You have a legal duty to investigate so I would get a plumber, but if there is no leak then it’s not your problem. Leaks generally cause obvious and localised problems. Blistering paint alone does not sound like a leak.
In our case it was a second home. We had a plumber who found no evidence of a leak in our flat or the flat below and we then drained everything down. I didn’t tell the neighbour but waited to see what happened. The supposed leak continued and they threatened legal action. At that point I told them the water had been turned off for three months and that they should take the legal action threatened. I got a really nasty email but that was the last I heard of it!
If there is a leak from a sealed heating system you will know by monitoring the pressure. You could get a plumber to pressure test the other pipework. It will cost a bit but gives peace of mind. I considered getting that done but did the “drain the system” test instead
Thanks very much for the information. I must admit I have enjoyed your story - thanks for the humor and the warmth which brings a smile to us in the community who are facing stressful situation like this especially dealing with unreasonable neighbours:)
I assume you are a Landlord. You have therefore taken the decision to rent a flat, and therefore you should just accept the responsibility that come’s with that position.
Arrange to visit your neighbour to see the alleged damage, and if there is some that you believe it caused by a leak, then investigate & fix it. If not, explain this, and tell them that you will not be taking any action.
You should be going out of your way to maintain good relations with your neighbours.