Buildings Insurance Query!!!

[bathspray]

Firstly I apologise if ive put this into the wrong place..

I live in a semi detached house that has a rear porch (wooden construction).

The porch adjoins the neighbours (same style and construction) porch.

Mine has the polycarb roof and his has corrugated (plastic)roof.

Over the last weeks rainfall ive noticed that our porch has water pouring in quite a lot.

On inspection Ive noticed that the neighbours roof has a gap in it about 10mm and it appears that the water is entering through this and finding its way into my porch. It must have been getting its way in for some ime as the wood directly underneath is like paper on my side.

Ive rung the insurance(AA) to make a claim and they said get some quotes with cause of damage etc.

Shall I claim on my insurance or neighbours(not really speaking)? And also what is the real cause (wear & tear) or something else. As if the contractor puts it to wear and tear the AA wont pay out i believe.

Any suggestions please?????????


Thanks in anticipation

[Mossycat]

The choice is yours basically as to who you claim off, if you decide to claim against your neighbour you would deal directly with their insurance company. You would need to have estimates to show the cost of repairs and establish why your neighbour is responsible.

If you choose to use your own insurer the work will be approved faster, the work will get done sooner and then they will claim it back from your neighbours insurance company.

If it was me I'd go through my own insurer and let them have the hassle.

If it's wear and tear then your neighbour will not be covered for the repairs to his property but the liability aspect of his policy will cover you for any damage you suffered.

Ideally get the quotes for putting right the damage you have suffered and making your property secure and watertight which may be different to securing the actual leak on his property. That way your claim is for negligence against your neighbour and not rectification per se.

Mossy

[Wulfyn]

Hi Bathspray,

be careful going through your own insurer as they might try to claim that the damage was due to Escape of Water rather than by Storm damage (as the damage done to your property was not done directly by the storm, but due to the water running from your neighbour's property).

Normally this would not be an issue because your insurance company would then contact your neighbour to claim from them as they are liable for the damage. However it's becoming increasingly common for policies to have large Escape of Water excesses (as this is a growing cause of loss for insurance companies over the last few years).

If your excess was, say £250 (on top of your standard excess of £100), then you could have to pay the first £350 of a repair bill. If the total damage is less, or not much more than this, then you are trusting your insurance company to go through the hassle of claiming from your neighbour.

Your neighbour (or his/her insurer) should be liable to cover all losses (including your excess) but your own insurance company is not. Check your policy wording carefully!

[dx100uk]

urm..one way to spoil a relationship with your neighbour totaly, put in a claim against them.
personally i don't think this is a wise idea at this stage.

i know you want the damage repaired and not have to pay, but i'd be seriously inclined to tap on their door and ask if they have leaking in the porch.
if not, then you have, and you think theirs does have a leak too and could we do something about it, and get it sorted and the damage repaired, else i'm afraid it will be an insurance job and be very expensvie if they are found to be at fault?

my 2p

dx