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Letter before court claim
To blah
Subject: Leak and subsequent replacement of kitchen ceiling due to negligence
I have not received compensation for the damage done to my ceiling. I have also not received a reply to my requests for a soletraders invoice confirming the cause of the leak, not one that has contact details on it in the form of address and phone number.
I am once again requesting a full payment of £2082 for payment repair my ceiling (attached invoice from 09/06/2022) on the grounds that my kitchen ceiling leaked and needed replacing due to a leak from your upstairs shower unit.
When entering the flat on 22nd Jan 2022 there was water dripping and pooling on the floor from my ceiling.
Your tenant invited me to look upstairs and there was barely sealant or grout remaining around the base of the very mouldy shower unit such that I was able to fit fingers between the tray and the wall. It had worn away. Additionally, the bathroom was very mouldy.
It was not caused by fair ‘wear and tear’ and was something a layperson could notice immediately, without any struggle. It was not unforeseen, and it was preventable and negligent. It is not acceptable that I should have to replace my ceiling just because you do not maintain the shower unit.
Additionally you have also told me that the venting to the shower was inadequate, and your loft insulation soaked with water which sounds to me like it may have expediated the level of mould the rate of disintegration in the bathroom.
The lease says you are to regularly inspect and maintain and keep in repair your leasehold. This should be done whether or not there is tenant in situ and it should not be my concern if you don’t have the time to inspect etc, and you should read the terms of the lease to check you are complying.
I moved in on 5th February 2022 and waited a long time to do anything at all with my kitchen until I knew what was going on. On the 1st of March Kate emailed me saying work had been completed on the shower and that it was now leak free. The ceiling was still bowing in the centre and through till the first week of May 2022 I did not have a washing machine delivered because of pending kitchen ceiling repairs I could not afford, and I knew plaster dust from repairs could damage my new appliances. I could only do washing at parents or friends house, which was is a nuisance to me. I kept my fridge in the hallway which was very inconvenient nuisance to me. I had a dehumidifier running for 3 months at cost, nuisance to me.
When the ceiling was replaced, instead of the ceiling being lifted away in one piece the builders said 3 soaked through layers of plasterboard fell down on them in pieces and they had to evacuate due to the dust and clean it the next day after it settled so that was another extra day I couldn’t live in my flat which was additional nuisance. I also had to give it another clean afterwards after more settling of dust and to this day I still find pieces of plaster behind the radiator or in oven crevices etc.
You offered £200 in goodwill and have said you have fixed the cause of the leak and said your builder would contact me about the ceiling. You were still saying he would call me on 22nd March 2022 and requested that I send you pictures of the ceiling for them. I kept waiting until it got to April 2022. He was finally put in touch with my Dad and the quote done which I sent to you at your request.
During this time from February through till April 2022 I assumed during that your goodwill payment, offer to have your builder get in touch with us, quote the ceiling, that I should and send this quote to you, alongside with your continued reassurances that you and blah are property professionals - all meant that you intended to repair my ceiling because you were liable. I was shocked when you then said you would not be paying.
The builders only replaced 1 layer of ceiling and said it would be more expense to replace all 3 layers which I couldn’t afford which is further nuisance etc as it doesn’t provide the same noise proofing as before.
Also that it was probable the leak went unnoticed by the downstairs flat for a while as it soaked into all 3 of the ceiling layers over a time period.
In the end my Dad paid for it and I still need to repay him the £2082.
There was no evidence of any leak on date of Level 2 building survey by a registered chartered surveyor in September. The report said the kitchen it was at risk of damp due to poor ventilation as there was a leaky lean-to attached against the kitchen wall. There was no evidence of ceiling leak on other viewings (October). I asked the previous owner if he had painted over anything, and he had just painted it fresh but not to cover any leaks.
You told me you had buildings insurance in place yourselves over this time as the previous freeholder didn’t arrange it and you could not mortgage your own flat without buildings insurance. Your was in place until May 2022 when you cancelled it and agreed to pay the insurance I arranged (I had asked many times prior)
My solicitor told me not to arrange buildings insurance until I had confirmation you cancelled yours it as it would be wrong to have 2 buildings insurances running concurrent which I took to mean it was illegal to do so. Due to lack of communication from you and other factors I had mine put in place on 13th January but the leak was noticed on 12th January 2022 the day I picked the keys up, though I did not know the cause of it at the time. There was evidence of a leak in form of stains which I though condensation from the attached lean to. The claim was refused because the insurance was in place from 13th Jan 2022 and they said it sounded as though the leak started before this.
The Insurance company person examined the photos and listened to all my concerns about the weird invoice etc and said I should pursue costs from the upstairs leasehold myself as they cannot. You suggested I explain things differently to my buildings insurance company, whatever that means. They have said they will only reopen and look at it again if I have a proper invoice blah with the proper contact details on it, confirming it is all fixed now. You have not told me his contact details, there was only the email address he would not reply to. I found blah online at and written to him with no response. I would also like to know why a professional plumber would look at this and call it wear and tear.
I am reminded throughout that you have many properties and also I’ve been linked to blah information in the footer of his emails that he acted in ‘all four inns of the court plus numerous chambers’ etc and was prepared to accept your opinion as professionals but I’m raising this again in 2024 after another leak in February this year from your leasehold as I cannot go on like this.
I would like a reply as soon as possible so that I know you have received this letter. If you don't agree could you please then send me a detailed response saying why you don't agree.
To avoid taking court action, I am willing to use Alternative Dispute Resolution to resolve this problem.
If I do not receive a satisfactory response from you within 14 days of the date of this letter, I intend to issue proceedings against you in the county court without further notice. This may increase your liability for costs.
I refer you to the Practice Direction on pre-action conduct under the Civil Procedure Rules, and in particular to paragraph 13-16 which sets out the sanctions the court may impose if you fail to comply with the Practice Direction.
I look forward to your acknowledgement.
Yours faithfully,
blah
p.s
Apologies for the previous letter before claim which was not signed and was not written properly please disregard it.
