Hi guys,

A bit of advice please. Yesterday the business above mine (shared building separate entrances) were installing a new wash station. Whilst doing so they accidentally disconnected the waste pipe, when they then used it water came through my ceiling (around the light fittings) and damaged a fair amount of my stock.

I immediately ran up and told them to stop what they were doing but quite an amount of damage has been done.

They have asked me to provide them a list and prices for what has been damaged so my question is

Do I submit cost price + vat (which I have to pay) + shipping charges + estimated import costs (as some of the items damaged where from the USA)

Or the retail prices of these items? Some I will be unable to reorder as they are discontinued and I cannot afford to reorder these items so will be missing stock and therefore losing potential sales until it can be replaced.

The carpet is also stained and has only been down 2 months I'm assuming I just submit the receipt for the one just laid or do I need to get a new quote for the same carpet?

Any help would be much appreciated xx

I suppose if it were a business Insurance claim purely for the items, it would probably be done on an indemnity basis i.e what they cost you including all the relevant costs.

Re the carpet, get a quote for cleaning and only if it can't be cleaned, should you look at replacement cost of this.

Depending on the lease details, they may not be legally liable and it is left to each leaseholder to have their own Insurance to cover such losses. You would then have to consider what action to take in regard to any negligence by those upstairs, in order to pay for any uninsured losses and your Insurers would do the same in regard to any claim you made to them.

Re the carpet, get a quote for cleaning and only if it can't be cleaned, should you look at replacement cost of this.

 

It did have the water extracted and was shampooed within a few hours of it happening but unfortunately after 24 hours there is still a very noticeable stain. The carpet was felt backed and laid (glued) directly on top of a laminate floor so i guess the combination of the backing and laminate underneath has meant the water spread out.

 

Depending on the lease details, they may not be legally liable and it is left to each leaseholder to have their own Insurance to cover such losses. They tell me they have insurance, but the type I do not yet know, I believe they were using a plumber to install so the logic is that they (or their insurer) can then claim what they have had to pay me for him.

I also cannot afford to replace all the contents whilst waiting for this matter to be sorted so my revenues are likely to be affected. I've already had to offer a refund to a customer whose item they were due to collect was damaged.

It's just a mess and not the way I really wanted to start things off with my new neighbours - thank you for your help

You claim for the cost of the items lost, you cannot claim for lost profits. Ask a carpet cleaning co to have a look at the staining and quote for costs of removing stains not just cleaning.

You claim for the cost of the items lost, you cannot claim for lost profits. Ask a carpet cleaning co to have a look at the staining and quote for costs of removing stains not just cleaning.

If you're claiming from your own Insurance and it includes Business Interruption cover you can claim for lost profits you can prove although I suspect the OP won't have BI

I have business interruption cover but I'm not sure if the other business has it, I have submitted pictures and a request for reimbursement to the other business, and they are submitting that to their insurers

If you have BI cover and were claiming from your own policy you could claim for either your lost gross or net profit for whatever period (upto your cover) you can prove.

The other company not having BI cover does not affect your claim against them if you're dealing with them directly.

I would suggest you submit a letter from your accountant detailing any difference in your net profit against the same period from last year assuming the incident has impacted your profit