I will take a look at the lease when in office tomorrow.  In regards to the address of the LL what if the one on land registry is an old one, he could have moved house or it could be an old business one? 

Just thinking if I send him letter of claim and then MCOL documents to wrong address then what would happen? Is the claim void? 

Anyway to verify it? 

Also can I claim for compensation/rent relief that I will negotiate with my tenant for the inconvenience? 

In terms of proving negligence,  I have email proof of the various times emails sent to the managing agent asking them to get the work done. I also have a email from them to say that the person looking after this has left the company hence why the delay in getting fixed. This email was sent to me 8 days after my original email. 

Being a company someone leaving them shouldn't excuse them of the liability? If they had the work done within a few days the ceiling wouldn't have fallen. 

Other then that I can't prove what the actual issue was as they never told me. But there are no pipes above that area that supply water to my flat and it was only happening when they were using the bath. 

Do I MoneyClaim against the agent or LL? 

Thank you for your reply. In regards to the Insurance question we both have separate insurance polices. Thats just the way it works with Tyneside flats. 

1. You're the leaseholder of the bottom floor flat. You pay a Service Charge (and potentially Ground Rent) for upkeep of the communal areas (stairwells etc) upon demand.

Its a Tyneside flat so does not have communal areas or any annual service charges.. Here is a great explanation of the leases on these type of properties. Its basically a terraced house thats been converted into 2 flats decades back. 

2. The leak came from the demised premises of the upper flat, and was not a communal pipe (i.e shared by both flats)

Yeah. It came from the bath which is above my bathroom. There are no pipes from my flat there. 

3. You do not know the details of your landlord (i.e. the freeholder)

No. I have requested these a few times from agent via email but they refuse to give it to me. 

4. There is a managing agent for the communal areas of the flats (not the letting agent, someone appointed by the freeholder to manage day to day issues).

As per above no communal areas. Two seperate entrances to two different flats from the main road. 

Just to clarify on two points 

The insurance agent who emailed me is an independent and does not work for LL's insurance company. 

I have requested LL's details from the property agent and not the Insurance company. They are not providing me this. 

I am the owner of a Tyneside flat which is designed as a 3 bed flat upstairs and a 2 bed downstairs on a Terraced street. So if you can imagine a normal terraced house but purpose converted to 2 flats decades back. 

To make things easier I will post in a timeline. 

9th of October -  I informed the letting agent who manages the property above mine that their bathroom was leaking into mine. I was promised some action but nothing was done.

9th till the 17th - Sent the agent 3 emails and made 3 phone calls. 

17th - I get a email that the person looking after this has left the company and thats why nothing has been done. Various emails are exchanged over the next couple of days as to what exactly is happening. 

18th - The ceiling in the bathroom falls down and this is informed to the letting agent via email. 

19th - Reminder is sent as nothing has been done. 

20th October - The works to fix the leak are done and I am advised that the Managing agent has informed the LL about the damage and a quote for fixing it has been passed on to him. 

25th October - I contact letting agent to ask for an update and am informed that the LL has asked his Insurance company to deal with this

1st Nov - Email for an update as nothing has been done. 

2nd Nov - Get a email from a Insurance claims consultant that says - 

2nd Nov - Request LL details so I can communicate with him direct and come to an amicable resolution. 

6th Nov - Request LL details again and get a email back to say they have asked the LL to get in touch which he hasn't. 

I have spoken with my Insurance agent and he says that I will be liable for a Escape of water excess of £400 if I claim on my insurance. Plus he raised doubts about whether its a Insurance claim that I should be making with my company as it was not an act of god as such rather negligence on the LL's and agents part that work wasn't done to resolve the leak in an acceptable time frame. The damage was caused by the leak happening every time they took a bath over the 9 days. Which for a 3 bed you can imagine would be quite a bit. Anyway he didn't say whether it was or wasn't a claim as that's for an insurance company to decide and pursue. 

My Tenant is not a happy bunny that its been a month today since she reported this to me and wasn't able to use her bathroom for days when it happened. She is fishing for rent discount which is another matter and I will probably give her something as she is a very good old tenant of mine and I feel for her. 

Since I was made to wait under the impression that the LL would get my damage fixed I haven't done nothing about it. I am in a situation now that if I inform my Insurance company the process before the ceiling is fixed would take 2-3 weeks which is too long for my tenant. I would rather get the work done myself this week for which I have taken 2 quotes of around £500-600. 

Do I have any legal options to pursue this in Small claims court? 

I wasn't aware. Do you mean I am doing something wrong by asking for advice and giving out technical information? 

If so I can stop. 

This has been going one for months now. The message I sent was 2 days back before I came here seeking advice. 

Ok. Understood 

I have sent off the H&S form. Also told the tenant upstairs not to use bath till its fixed but they aren't listening. Am I allowed to turn off the water if they use the bath again before its fixed?  I realise that water is a necessity but I am more worried about the wet electronics as that could cause more serious issues. 

Wet electronics are in my flat. 

If you can imagine a terraced house. So their bathroom is directly above mine. Basically between their bathtub and my ceiling is 18mm timber floor and then 12mm plasterboard. If their bath leaks upstairs all water falls directly below onto the ceiling. The plasterboard above the taps area of the bath has fallen. The rest of the water is running on the plasterboard and finding its way to the lowest place which is the hole is for the ceiling lights. 

My reply to them was - 

AIRE Team is there point of contact for tenant and LL to report repairs. 

H&S = Health & Safety

I am guessing he is saying my responsibility as they won't carry out any work on my flat downstairs due to it being company policy. 

Quote

We are not permitted to carry out ANY works on properties that are not part of the contract, it would need to be an insurance claim situation.

Wet electrics are the ceiling light directly below the bath and 4ft away in the pantry is a fridge freezer which is also wet. The electric fusebox is tripping due to this. 

My original email to ask them to pay if I do the repairs

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We wouldn’t be paying for this work to be done if the LL is completing the work – it’s the LL responsibility to complete the works.

When I asked them if they will repair the ceiling

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That is correct we would not repair the damage on a property that is not on the contract, the only thing I can advise you do at this stage is raise a complaint and you would do the by contacting the AIRE team.

Reply to my email for access yesterday

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Good Afternoon,

 

Thank you for your email, in order to provide access please complete and return the attached H&S form.

Please ensure a specific date and time is provided, allowing a 48 hour notice for access.

This is not acceptable as its an emergency and 48hrs will take us into the bank holiday weekend. Do I need to fill in a H&S or can I get access today as its urgent and the electrics are wet. 

No reply to email so far. I sent it last night so I guess should give them till end of today? 

I am organising the 2 x upstairs and 2 x Downstairs quotations by tomorrow. Will be in touch as soon as I have these. 

Honestly thank you once again. You guys are so helpful. 

Understood. Sent email to gain access times for workmen to quote

Thank you. Will do this and get back to you. 

Ok thanks. I assume this would be through the small claims court? If they lawyer up and come back at me can I be liable for their costs? These big multi nationals always have something in their lease that they can bring up. 

Yeah there is. I can gain access to the property for emergencies. Yesterday I asked them to give me access as it was a persistent leak which they allowed but said they would not pay for any repairs. 

I gave them the property at a cheaper rent as it was a full repair lease which stated that besides the roof everything else they need to pay for. 

Unfortunately I don't. Its a part of the agreement that I am not allowed access. They use the flat to house vulnerable tenants and I am only allowed access by giving them 24hrs notice and then too I am not allowed to do any work in the house due to health and safety reasons. Their own workmen have to do the job. 

Yeah.  Upstairs belongs to me but is rented out to a company for 5 years. They use it for their tenants. The lease states that they are responsible for all repairs to that flat. 
 

I am unable to get access to that flat. 

I own a a pair of terraced flats. So the upstairs is rented out on a 5 year lease and managed by another company who rent it out. Its been leaking from their bathroom since November last year. I have informed them via email 5 times since then and the problem was never fully rectified. They would just send their handyman who would apply some silicone to the bath and the leak would start again a few weeks later. 

Under the lease they are responsible for the repairs to the property. 

Yesterday morning the plasterboard ceiling in the bathroom below fell and caused damage to the ceiling light too. Now my tenant doesn't have a ceiling light or half the ceiling. To makes matter worse they still haven't sent anyone out to fix the leak so water is still falling from the bathroom above. 

They have advised me that I am not allowed to do any work upstairs and if I want to they will not compensate me for it. In regards to the damage done below they want me to go via my Insurance company and are refusing to pay for the repairs. 

Would this be a valid insurance claim as its not accidental rather negligence on their part for not doing the job correctly over months. Plus I will have to pay the excess and loose my no claims? 

What are my rights?

It is being fixed by Statstone the original dealers. I want to keep the car so really don't mind giving them another chance. But if the problem comes back then my rights should still apply right? 

Considering that I have given the original dealer another chance to rectify the issue. Would my rights still apply if the same problem comes back? Or do I give up my rights?

Is there anything I should get in writing to say they guarantee that particular issue? 

A senior manager from the dealership called me and I mentioned the entire history to him. He wasn't too impressed with how it had been handled by another dealer and offered to take on the car and fix any issues. I would prefer to get this fixed rather than return and look for another car so happy for them to give it one more shot.

Thank you so much your help. I am glad to say the issue has been resolved. Honestly you guys were amazing. 

Yes I have a email confirming that since the fault was there at the time of delivery it would not be covered by the warranty. I was hoping to not get any solicitors involved. I love the car and am still hopeful for a resolution hence why I have been so patient. 

dx100uk I have the agreement on my iPad and ideally would need to print it off and black out the details. Please bear with me until I am back in the office to do this. In the meanwhile if you need me to copy and paste anything I can do that. Thank you so much for your help.