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Council flat above flooded my kitchen - Council insurance agents deny liability


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Background

 

3 of us inherited a property, (flat in a high rise) in Sep 2008.

Property remains empty.

 

Dec 2009 I inspected property, found substantial water damage in kitchen.

(HI-Res photographs taken).

 

Neighbours inform me council are upgrading all council tenants kitchens and installing central heating.

My flat is not the only "victim" of council workers bad work.

 

The flat is on the second top floor so no doubt as to where the leak ocurred.

 

My flat is empty, no insurance.

 

Contacted council insurance dept. played the phone merry-go-round until correct dept was informed.

 

Wrote very strong letter to council insurers.

Liability for damage was denied, shortly after on the grounds that no water leakage reports were lodged during the period stated.

 

Insurance agents refuse to send an assessor to confirm or deny claim.

 

I have not been able to quiz the tenant of the upstairs flat as I live miles away from the flat and only inspect the property monthly, due to the return journey of several hours.

 

Looking ahead, I think the council might continue to deny liability and perhaps try to lay the blame on the tenant.

 

Because I suspect that this may have to go legal;

 

Questions

 

Is there a legal instrument in Scottish law that lays the ultimate responsibility at the door of the council?

 

And if I have to go legal with this, will I be able to claim for costs?

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Guest Old_andrew2018

Have you considered discussing the chances of success with a lawyer, you might have to pay a small fee, however you will be in a better position to decide if taking action is worth the effort.

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Thanks for the input.

 

I contacted the local councillor last week.

He said that the behaviour of the insurance agents is par for the course.

I've to leave it with him as he has dealt with this situation many times, and has always got a favourable result.

 

I'm not pinning all my hopes on him,

SO

In the meantime I'm still interested in investigating the scenarios of going down the legal route.

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  • 3 weeks later...

UPDATE

 

I moved into the flat beginning of April.

I've had to strip out the flooring, chuck the rusty white goods (cooker and microwave), scrub and disinfect the walls/floor/skirting (lots of black and green mold).

 

I received a letter from the insurance agents stating;

there was a leak in the kitchen upstairs reported by the tenant

the council sent a plumber to fix it in good time

 

BUT

 

as the council could not have forseen such an event they will not accept liability

 

SO

 

Do I have enough for a small claims case.

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UPDATE

 

I moved into the flat beginning of April.

I've had to strip out the flooring, chuck the rusty white goods (cooker and microwave), scrub and disinfect the walls/floor/skirting (lots of black and green mold).

 

I received a letter from the insurance agents stating;

there was a leak in the kitchen upstairs reported by the tenant

the council sent a plumber to fix it in good time

 

BUT

 

as the council could not have forseen such an event they will not accept liability

 

SO

 

Do I have enough for a small claims case.

 

 

If they could of forseen such an event, they wouldnt need insurance now would they ! jokers

 

Go with LBA :)

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I am amazed at how often I hear this from councils it is disgusting.

 

The facts are that you have suffered damage to your property as a result of leaking water from another property, the insurance company should assess and pay all damages. This is no different if it was a private block of flats and a neighbouring flat caused damage, the buildings insurance for the whole block will pick up the tab.

 

You have a good case for small claims court, but be prepared. take photos of everything, keep good filing system, get quotes for repairs to damages. write to the council and state that you hold them responsible for all damages to your property resulting from the leak, keep copies of all letters you send.

 

If you decide to go to court, which will take about 6 months from when you send in the forms, then another good tactic is that about 8 weeks before the court date write to the council solicitor and demand lots and lots of information about how many claims the council has had in the last year, what type, how many settled, anything you can think of that means the solicitor has to undertake a lot of work, which means costs, as they may to decide to just settle as it is cheaper. dont forget to ask that they provide you with the info within 28 days.

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You could also make a FOI request to the council.

 

PF

Finally if you succeed with your claim please consider a donation to consumer action group as those donations keep this site alive.

 R.I.P BOB aka ROOSTER-UK you have always been a Gent on these boards and you will be remembered for that.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I took legal advice on Tuesday and apparently if I can't prove negligence then the council are not liable.

 

Guess I'll approach the local newspaper, maybe shame the council into paying.

 

 

You need to speak with ANOTHER legal advisor. A leak means negligence is self evident. Faulty plumbing is NOT an Act of God

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Has an assessor been to have a look? Is the damage obviously from above? Is there any pipework / drain which is part of your flat that could have caused the problem?

 

The council's agents refuse to send out their assessor.

 

Damage is definitely from above.

There is only one flat above mine, besides I have a letter admitting that the council plumber fixed the leak.

 

I'm not letting this go.

Local newsaper was contacted recently, hopefully they will be interested.

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As I understand it the housing agency/authority insure ALL of the properties so no matter who's negligent they are still liable

 

Legal advisor told me the council self-insures, so rules are different.

I don't understand why, but he certainly wasn't interested in taking the case.

 

There are more lawyers I can try in Edinburgh, and I will.

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Legal advisor told me the council self-insures, so rules are different.

I don't understand why, but he certainly wasn't interested in taking the case.

 

There are more lawyers I can try in Edinburgh, and I will.

 

Doesn't matter they are still liable & the rules are NOT different liability means liability

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Doesn't matter they are still liable & the rules are NOT different liability means liability

 

I know what you mean, but the council's agent's are like a broken record.

"not liable"

"not liable"

"not liable"

 

There's little point in entering into further corresponce with them.

I'll just get the same response.

 

You refer to a 'legal advisor' are we talking a qualified lawyer or what?

 

My solicitors in an unrelated case.

 

From their experience, they stated that I had very little chance of success if I took it to court.

 

To be clearer, I asked on a "walk and talk" after being in court with them.

They didn't dismiss it completely and I'm in the process of putting a detailed case with all correspondence for their perusal.

 

Hopefully the evidence I have will suffice and they will take the view that I do have a strong case.

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