Hi, newbie here, thanks for having me.
Recently my council flat was flooded from the flat above (which is a leasehold flat), my family had to leave home for 9 weeks because of the damage, we lost almost everything including all electrical and white goods. The landlord immediately blamed the tenant whose fault it probably was, him or his plumber caused the main pipe to burst and flood all three flats below. The landlord said at the time that she was sorry for what her tenant had done and she was never informed by him about the series of four leaks including the last flood, these leaks and the flood occurred over a 51 day period.
She kept saying i didn't know to anyone who would listen including myself.
A head of the council came out to asses and took the landlord/leaseholder aside and they had words to which i was not privy to, more on this later.
She had stated to me verbally that she would replace all our lost belongings either from herself or via her insurance company. she co-operated at first and blamed the council, because they should of checked the pipes, however we now know the pipes were the landlord/leaseholders responsibility. She has admitted to me and the insurance company that she only new about the major flood because a friend saw the commotion.
The council said direct all correspondence for the claim to the landlord/leaseholder as the pipes and the maintenance of the pipes were her responsibility, so we did and then her attitude changed. We asked for her insurance documents but she only sent the logos, so we asked again and she sent a policy number, the policy number was wrong so we asked again and received another one, which was right but it would not cover us as it was buildings insurance. We kept on at the insurance company and they then said they do cover for contents including ours but we would have to prove negligence. So we put in a claim and they rejected it, they said basically its not her thought because her tenant had not notified her of the leaks.
Via her insurance company she claimed to have not received her mail because her tenant never gave it to her.
I remembered her words ''i didn't know'' so we kept digging thinking why didn't she know? and the answer, we found out she had not updated her correspondence address, they were sending all council mail to her flat upstairs where she hasn't lived in since 2012.
So we told the insurance company that she was uncontactable by the council who had tried contacting her over the 51 day period and they should reassess, and they basically said that she had updated her address, certainly prior to the flood and receives all her council mail to her current address.
so we did some more digging and told the council to help us or they will be taken to court too
then we found out in writing from the council that she did not update her current correspondence/address until two months after the flood.
We have forwarded this information to the insurance company but seeing that she has told them that she receives her mail but also her tenant didn't pass on said mail, we are not optimistic about them paying out.
Update after providing the insurance company with our latest evidence, they are now stating that they are not basing the decision on our evidence but on their policy, so are rejecting our claim.
so in summary
1 she states (via her insurance company) that she didn't receive her mail because the tenant didn't pass it on to her.
2 then she states via her insurance company) she receives all mail and certainly prior to the leak but didn't receive these particular letters for some reason.
3 and now we know she didn't update her correspondence address as is council rules on the right to buy scene, until two months after the flood.
4 we now know why a head at the council took her to one side, she didn't even tell them she had a tenant.
so my questions, is this a case of negligence? she didn't update her address and was uncontactable? the council could not contact her as the leaseholder, also what are my chances against an insurance company and or the leaseholder....oh and the tenant, her family member has disappeared of course. We didn't have insurance and yes that was our mistake on reflection, however we still have the right to pursue those we feel are responsible, thanks for any help
Recently my council flat was flooded from the flat above (which is a leasehold flat), my family had to leave home for 9 weeks because of the damage, we lost almost everything including all electrical and white goods. The landlord immediately blamed the tenant whose fault it probably was, him or his plumber caused the main pipe to burst and flood all three flats below. The landlord said at the time that she was sorry for what her tenant had done and she was never informed by him about the series of four leaks including the last flood, these leaks and the flood occurred over a 51 day period.
She kept saying i didn't know to anyone who would listen including myself.
A head of the council came out to asses and took the landlord/leaseholder aside and they had words to which i was not privy to, more on this later.
She had stated to me verbally that she would replace all our lost belongings either from herself or via her insurance company. she co-operated at first and blamed the council, because they should of checked the pipes, however we now know the pipes were the landlord/leaseholders responsibility. She has admitted to me and the insurance company that she only new about the major flood because a friend saw the commotion.
The council said direct all correspondence for the claim to the landlord/leaseholder as the pipes and the maintenance of the pipes were her responsibility, so we did and then her attitude changed. We asked for her insurance documents but she only sent the logos, so we asked again and she sent a policy number, the policy number was wrong so we asked again and received another one, which was right but it would not cover us as it was buildings insurance. We kept on at the insurance company and they then said they do cover for contents including ours but we would have to prove negligence. So we put in a claim and they rejected it, they said basically its not her thought because her tenant had not notified her of the leaks.
Via her insurance company she claimed to have not received her mail because her tenant never gave it to her.
I remembered her words ''i didn't know'' so we kept digging thinking why didn't she know? and the answer, we found out she had not updated her correspondence address, they were sending all council mail to her flat upstairs where she hasn't lived in since 2012.
So we told the insurance company that she was uncontactable by the council who had tried contacting her over the 51 day period and they should reassess, and they basically said that she had updated her address, certainly prior to the flood and receives all her council mail to her current address.
so we did some more digging and told the council to help us or they will be taken to court too
then we found out in writing from the council that she did not update her current correspondence/address until two months after the flood.
We have forwarded this information to the insurance company but seeing that she has told them that she receives her mail but also her tenant didn't pass on said mail, we are not optimistic about them paying out.
Update after providing the insurance company with our latest evidence, they are now stating that they are not basing the decision on our evidence but on their policy, so are rejecting our claim.
so in summary
1 she states (via her insurance company) that she didn't receive her mail because the tenant didn't pass it on to her.
2 then she states via her insurance company) she receives all mail and certainly prior to the leak but didn't receive these particular letters for some reason.
3 and now we know she didn't update her correspondence address as is council rules on the right to buy scene, until two months after the flood.
4 we now know why a head at the council took her to one side, she didn't even tell them she had a tenant.
so my questions, is this a case of negligence? she didn't update her address and was uncontactable? the council could not contact her as the leaseholder, also what are my chances against an insurance company and or the leaseholder....oh and the tenant, her family member has disappeared of course. We didn't have insurance and yes that was our mistake on reflection, however we still have the right to pursue those we feel are responsible, thanks for any help