Can anyone offer some advice please, council refusing help

[Libby ann]

My daughter was flooded out through council negligence and are refusing to cover the cost of damage to her furniture and flooring.

On Sunday evening about 10.30 my daughter had run the bath for my 14 year old special needs grandson, nothing came out the taps, there was a very loud bang then water started gushing from under the bath panel, hot water, she ran downstairs looking for the stop tap could not find it so rang my nephew to come and help also rang emergency council number.

in the meantime the water was pouring through the ceiling onto her sofa which she managed to pull out of the way but it was soaking by this time, she ran for neighbors to help her and there was one came , my nephew had arrived about the same time he was in bed and lived about 10 mins drive away, eventually they found the stop tap but the council had boxed it in with no way of getting to it my nephew was belting the wood with a hammer and still could not get in,

while he was trying to get in the emergency council arrived and turned water off from another place they had tried to get to the stop tap and couldn’t either, the electric had already blown just after the bang from under the bath so all this work was done in darkness,

as you can imagine the whole place is ruined, my daughter and 2 kids had to leave the house so they came to me and hubby, we have a pub so not the ideal place for kids to live but they had to go somewhere, the house the workman said was dangerous, midnight my bairns come in drenched to the skin, the next day we went straight to council and inspector came out to view damage, he ordered a dehumidifier to be delivered within the hournothing arrived and nothing the next day until my daughter contacted her local councillor then imediatly one arrived the inspector said the stop tap should not have been boxed in or it should have had a door for easy access, the council has pulled the ceiling down and waiting for it to dry out before a new one can go up,

but they have refused to help with the sofa or the flooring which was under 4 inches of water my daughter has no insurance which I wasn’t to pleased about, should I be able to get help for her or is it a total loss xxx

[Amethyst]

Re: Can anyone offer some advice please, council refusing help

The council is not responsible for insuring any of the contents, furniture or possessions that belong to a council tenant.
This can include electrical goods, CD and DVD collections, carpets, furniture, clothes, ornaments and paintings.
As a council tenant, if you believe that someone sent by the council is responsible for damage to your home or your possessions, you can make an insurance claim.

For example, if a council tradesman hammers a nail into the wall and accidentally bursts a water pipe, ruining the carpet, the council would be responsible for the cost of replacing it.
Each council, however, has a different policy. Check with your local authority to find out what its home insurance covers.

So I think it will hugely depend whether the issue with the taps/water system is due to some recent work done by the council on the property whether you can get them look at any form of compensation. Any clues what caused the initial 'bang' ?
Although there is the issue that a lot of the damage could have been prevented if she'd had access to the stopcock ! [MENTION=39710]des8[/MENTION] [MENTION=60653]crazy council [/MENTION]might be able to help more.

( and she should really try and get some contents insurance, mine is around £12 a month - very basic contents insurance for 3 bed council house)

[Libby ann]

Re: Can anyone offer some advice please, council refusing help

So I think it will hugely depend whether the issue with the taps/water system is due to some recent work done by the council on the property whether you can get them look at any form of compensation. Any clues what caused the initial 'bang' ?
Although there is the issue that a lot of the damage could have been prevented if she'd had access to the stopcock ! @des8 @crazy council might be able to help more.

( and she should really try and get some contents insurance, mine is around £12 a month - very basic contents insurance for 3 bed council house)

It was a burst flexi pipe to the hot water Hun xxx

[des8]

Re: Can anyone offer some advice please, council refusing help

Hi and welcome

Certainly one needs to establish what caused the problem
Possibly a build up of pressure due to a valve not releasing??
But the blocking of access to stop cock has obviously worsened the situation and seems to be the reason for the irreparable damage to her belongings

I think you will need to look at the tenancy agreement, to see if that has a clause holding the council harmless for any damage caused by their actions.

Generally if someone's negligence causes damage to a third party, that party can sue the negligent party.
If there is no hold harmless clause I think action against the council is the way to go if they refuse to acknowledge their liability.


PS my children used to play with our local publican's children (rural pub) and they thought it was the best!