Is it worth claiming on insurance?

[Serial_Apologist]

SA

We had similar problems with a flat we owned in Dundee. I was phoned by the people in the flat below to say that water was coming down “from our flat”. We weren’t there at the time. We contacted the factoring company. They were useless. We asked for further investigation, and somehow (I can’t remember all the details) we found that the water was coming from the flat above ours. This was let out to some students, I believe. The management company wouldn’t/didn’t do anything about this, nor would they pass on the name and contact details of the flat’s owner. They claimed (ha) it would violate their Data Protection responsibilities. Later I did contact the insurance company, but in the end, as the damage to our flat wasn’t too severe, we simply repainted parts which had become wet and stained.

That's interesting Dave. That specific instance would appear to have been a one-off. The same happened to me a couple of years ago when the chap upstairs let his bath overflow. He was most apologetic and has been extraordinarily helpful to me ever since the event! This time it really is a mystery, though coincidentally the seepage is dripping through at exactly the same point in the same room. Unfortunately for me this is occurring all along the crack in the ceiling running from one side to the other that room. Luckily the amount of water only totals about a cupful per day, but I don't have enough buckets to act as receptacles, and not enough old sheets for long-term absorption purposes, so I need something done pronto, as you can probably imagine!

[oddoneout]

I decided to claim when Storm David rearranged my roof in January 2018 - ridge tiles lifted, bounced down the back roof and onto the kitchen extension, removing and/or breaking tiles on the way. I reckoned that after however many years of paying premiums and building up no claims discount it might be more sensible to claim than use savings for something that was going to cost several hundred pounds, as my excess was only £50, and the knock to the NCB wouldn't wipe it out completely. The situation was complicated by the fact that I'm a mid-terrace and my neighbour's roof had similar damage(in fact virtually all the debris ended up in his backyard), and it made sense to get both roofs done at the same time, especially as scaffolding was needed. I got quotes to do both jobs, agreed with the neighbour who decided not to claim on his insurance but agreed to pay me his share of the work. The assessor who came out did a fast track process as it was considered not a big enough claim to need quotes to be sent for approval, and he calculated the payout on the spot, which was confirmed the following day; as it came to more than the work eventually cost, the increase in my insurance renewal has been more than covered. Later in the year when my financial situation changed, and some extra bills also came in, I was glad I'd claimed rather than used savings.

[pastoralguy]

I had specialist musical instrument insurance in the days when I played the violin. It wasn't terribly expensive despite the fact I had a reasonably valuable instrument. Fortunately, I never had to make a claim but I do remember there was quite a hike in price if one wanted to leave it unattended in a motor vehicle.

[Dave2002]

That's interesting Dave. That specific instance would appear to have been a one-off. The same happened to me a couple of years ago when the chap upstairs let his bath overflow. He was most apologetic and has been extraordinarily helpful to me ever since the event! This time it really is a mystery, though coincidentally the seepage is dripping through at exactly the same point in the same room. Unfortunately for me this is occurring all along the crack in the ceiling running from one side to the other that room. Luckily the amount of water only totals about a cupful per day, but I don't have enough buckets to act as receptacles, and not enough old sheets for long-term absorption purposes, so I need something done pronto, as you can probably imagine!

You have my sympathy re the current water "drips". You should probably carefully make one or more small holes along the line of the crack, which will at least (hopefully) let the water out at pre-determined points. The orange buckets from B&Q (last time I bought one - only a week or two back - they were 97p) can help. If you're lucky the ceiling won't come down, and small holes should be relatively easy to fix later on. If you're unlucky, the plasterboard will go really soggy, or the water will build up and and eventually bring great chunks of the ceiling down. Probably also makes sense to check with the people upstairs as soon as possible. If they've had a problem then at least you'll have a reason, but it's possible that there's another cause, such as a leaking pipe between the flats - and nothing directly to do with the people upstairs, and the solution and remedy will be different.

Also, depending on how many floors your building has, it's possible that the water is coming from further up the building, not directly from the flat above.

[Serial_Apologist]

You have my sympathy re the current water "drips". You should probably carefully make one or more small holes along the line of the crack, which will at least (hopefully) let the water out at pre-determined points. The orange buckets from B&Q (last time I bought one - only a week or two back - they were 97p) can help. If you're lucky the ceiling won't come down, and small holes should be relatively easy to fix later on. If you're unlucky, the plasterboard will go really soggy, or the water will build up and and eventually bring great chunks of the ceiling down. Probably also makes sense to check with the people upstairs as soon as possible. If they've had a problem then at least you'll have a reason, but it's possible that there's another cause, such as a leaking pipe between the flats - and nothing directly to do with the people upstairs, and the solution and remedy will be different.

Also, depending on how many floors your building has, it's possible that the water is coming from further up the building, not directly from the flat above.

Thanks for the advice, Dave. Strangely enough our floors here are 10 cm thick reinforced concrete, through which somehow the water seeps. I don't think making (or trying to make!) holes along the crack would have much effect! I've checked with the chappie upstairs, and there is, and has been, no indication of water leaking from any of his pipework. The area where it is coming from is a void which appears to be inaccessible from any of our flats, so I'm thinking that unless it can be accessed from another part of the building this may have to involve breaking though the external wall. Anyway, I've just been onto our management firm and they've arranged for a plumber to come over. The thinking is that given the location being within the block the collective insurance for the whole block should cover it.

[Dave2002]

Thanks for the advice, Dave. Strangely enough our floors here are 10 cm thick reinforced concrete, through which somehow the water seeps. I don't think making (or trying to make!) holes along the crack would have much effect!

Agreed - though do you have plasterboard ceilings under the concrete? If so, it might still be worth making holes to reduce the problems with the plasterboard.

Otherwise I'm not suggesting going at the ceiling with a masonry drill!

Good luck with this. It does rather sound as though water is coming in from somewhere further up, or via a side wall. Hopefully it'll be fixed, and if it's a more "general' problem, then the group insurance/management/maintenance fees should cover that. I hope your management company is reasonably good though - not all are. We started using a well worn phrase after our experience in Dundee "chocolate teapot - though less use, as at least you can eat chocolate ...".