Water damage from the neighbor above: what you have to do

Let’s see if this situation sounds familiar to you: one day you come home and see that there is water dripping down the wall. You look up at the ceiling and discover a large damp …

Let’s see if this situation sounds familiar to you: one day you come home and see that there is water dripping down the wall. You look up at the ceiling and discover a large damp patch through which water is seeping. Have you been through it? It may be, because water damage from the upstairs neighbor is a very common claim.

If it is already bad to have a breakdown at home, it is almost worse when the breakdown is in someone else’s home, but you suffer the consequences. Because fixing your roof leak will depend on whether or not the owner of the home from which the water comes has insurance.

In the event that your neighbor has his house insured, or if it is discovered that the problem is from a downspout that belongs to the community, there will be no problem, because the insurance will take care of it. But if there is no insurance involved, then you may find yourself in a difficult situation to resolve in case there is no good faith on the part of your neighbor.

Let’s not anticipate events, we go in parts to help you know what you have to do in a circumstance like this.

What to do if I have a leak from the upstairs neighbor?

If the water is leaking from the ceiling, it is clear that the reason is a fault in the upper house. The first thing is that you do not lose your calm. It is clear that this situation causes you serious damage, but it is not the end of the world. Did you know that every year there are two million interventions by insurers for cases related to water leaks? This means that every few seconds someone is calling their insurance company about a problem like this.

With this we want to convey the idea that a leak is something very common, it is not worth losing your nerves for it. Filtration occurs because there has been an accumulation of water and the soil absorbs it. Since your neighbor’s floor is right on top of your roof, the water moves from one place to another.

A small leak can end up becoming a huge waterfall, so act quickly. Locate your neighbor and inform him of the situation. If you have insurance, the most normal thing is that you call immediately.

In order to prevent the problem from getting worse, it is convenient for the neighbor to completely cut off the water in the house until the technicians arrive and fix the problem.

Does insurance cover water leaks?

In most cases, yes. Therefore, if your neighbor has his home insured, it is most likely that his company will be responsible for the repair in his house and also for the repairs that have to be done in yours.

But it is important that you keep in mind that there are cases in which even having insurance may not cover water leaks. For example, if the leak has occurred as a result of a work that your neighbor is doing in his home. In this case, you can demand the arrangement from the person in charge of the work, who must have civil liability insurance.

If the water leak is due to your neighbour’s carelessness, who has left a tap running and has been away from home for more than 72 hours, the insurance company will not be responsible for the damage.

Ultimately, if your neighbor has neglect to maintain their home and the leak can be blame on that lack of maintenance, you may end up having a conflict of interest with their insurer, who may refuse to do the repair.

What if my upstairs neighbor doesn’t have insurance?

Whether or not your neighbor has insurance, you have the right to compensation for water damage, which in this case usually takes the form of repairing the elements of your home that have been damaged.

Since people understand each other by talking, the best thing to do in these cases is to reach an agreement. Your neighbor may not care that you have a leak in your house, but he has a fault in his that he necessarily has to fix.

If he is a reasonable person you can come up with an easy solution. He fixes the water leak on his own and is also responsible for paying the bill for the cost of repairing the damage to your home.

What to do if the neighbor refuses to fix the leak?

You may find yourself in the unpleasant situation where the upstairs neighbor’s water damage leads to a confrontation. If you don’t have insurance and it refuses to cover the leak repair, you need to start taking action quickly.

As we said at the beginning of this article, keep calm at all times. You are legally entitle to compensation for damages suffer, so don’t bother arguing.

What we recommend is that back at home you take several photos and even videos of how everything is. Then call your insurance and explain the situation. They will send you an expert who will make a report that will serve as evidence if you have to go to court.

If your insurance offers you legal defense, you can take advantage of this coverage to be put in contact with a lawyer. Otherwise you will have to find one on your own.

What the lawyer does in these cases is to send the neighbor who caused the leak a previous claim informing them of what happened and asking for the repair of the damages. If the other party still refuses, then you have to file a lawsuit.

The judicial process followed in these cases is quick and simple. The sentence will condemn the defendant to take care of the repair or pay the bill in case you have fixed the damage on your own. If you do not comply with this obligation, you can request the execution of the judgment so that the amount owe to you is seize.

Upstairs neighbor water damage can be resolve quickly if there is homeowners insurance or a reasonable person causing the damage. With our home insurance, everything will be easier for you and you will avoid this type of problem. If you wet your neighbor, your policy will cover the repair and, if it is the neighbor who has caused the leak and does not want to take responsibility, you have legal assistance.

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