# Leak from adjoining property. Owner refuses to engage



## Westgolf (15 Sep 2018)

Hi all,

Bit of a strange one. We are suffering the ingress of water under the party wall from our adjoining property. At this stage have tested and retested all circuits in my own property and am 100% certain its from next door. My plumber gained admittance to the adjoining property and found several signs of water leakage, tenant was reluctant to let the plumber see any more and asked him to leave. 

We notified insurance company and landlord of adjoining property. Damage to our property is significant, timber floor damaged and also plasterwork and paintwork. Leak was spotted first week of August and to date nothing has been done. As leak is still present I can't start to restore my property and level of damage is increasing. 

Landlord is not based in Ireland and has appointed a loss assessor to represent her. He refuses to return calls and ignores emails. At this stage it seems that I'm going to have to go the legal route. All I want is their leak, which is the source of the problems, repaired so that I can start to sort our own property.  Anybody have any advice on how to proceed in order to push the landlord to firstly respond and repair the problems.

Thanks

Westgolf


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## Palerider (16 Sep 2018)

Does the owner use a local agent or is he renting direct with the tenant, if there is an agent then call in person to see them, if not go to your solicitor, water can cause enormous damage, think subsidence, don't delay.


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## Ravima (16 Sep 2018)

Maybe Landlord is afraid you will be seeking to claim all your repair costs from her? If you simply want her to fix her leak, explain that to her agent.


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## JohnJay (16 Sep 2018)

Has the property a water meter? Would Irish Water take any action if they knew there was an unrepaired leak in a property? I know you can report someone for using a hosepipe, I'm sure there is some way to report a constant leak?


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## Westgolf (16 Sep 2018)

Palerider said:


> Does the owner use a local agent or is he renting direct with the tenant, if there is an agent then call in person to see them, if not go to your solicitor, water can cause enormous damage, think subsidence, don't delay.



Owner has a local agent and we have spoken to him and emailed the owner copying agent in on all emails. Yet the leak continues and no repair or even investigation ?


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## Westgolf (16 Sep 2018)

JohnJay said:


> Has the property a water meter? Would Irish Water take any action if they knew there was an unrepaired leak in a property? I know you can report someone for using a hosepipe, I'm sure there is some way to report a constant leak?



The Irish water meter is constantly moving. We have observed it for two different 24 hour periods. It indicates a flow but doesn't indicate where the leak is merely that there is ongoing movement of water ?


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## Westgolf (16 Sep 2018)

Ravima said:


> Maybe Landlord is afraid you will be seeking to claim all your repair costs from her? If you simply want her to fix her leak, explain that to her agent.



All I want her to do is to find and stop the leak. That will give us a chance to bring in dehumidifiers and start the repair process.


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## Westgolf (16 Sep 2018)

Apologies, for the bitty answers also. I should have used multiquote when responding.


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## PaddyBloggit (17 Sep 2018)

Westgolf said:


> The Irish water meter is constantly moving.



Report the leak to Irish Water?


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## Westgolf (17 Sep 2018)

PaddyBloggit said:


> Report the leak to Irish Water?


That did occur to me but their meter is situated on the public roadway with about eight or nine meters of driveway to the house and the leak is coming under the party wall from within the adjoining property so I'm not sure if that's within their remit.


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## Leo (17 Sep 2018)

Westgolf said:


> so I'm not sure if that's within their remit.



It isn't, all they could do is alert the owner of a potential leak. If they haven't already done that it's likely the leak isn't of the scale that they would prioritise under the first fix free scheme any time soon if ever.

Might be time for a solicitor's letter threatening ongoing costs for remediation, rental of dehumidifiers...


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## Westgolf (17 Sep 2018)

Leo said:


> It isn't, all they could do is alert the owner of a potential leak. If they haven't already done that it's likely the leak isn't of the scale that they would prioritise under the first fix free scheme any time soon if ever.
> 
> Might be time for a solicitor's letter threatening ongoing costs for remediation, rental of dehumidifiers...



I think that's the only solution really but the fact that the owner is living abroad makes that more difficult. Only details we have are an email address. If this had been sorted promptly we could be at the process of remediation now and have some end in sight. Instead of that I now have mould growth in two areas of the premises as a direct result of the negligence and non activity of the owner of the adjoining property. At this stage, with the damage increasing, it looks like we will have to move out short term to other accommodation as the mould growth and general dampness makes the premises unfit in addition to having two asthmatics in the family.


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## Bronte (18 Sep 2018)

Westgolf said:


> At this stage, with the damage increasing, it looks like we will have to move out short term to other accommodation as the mould growth and general dampness makes the premises unfit in addition to having two asthmatics in the family.



Now that's crazy. I think an initial letter from your solicitor threatening to sue if they don't repair the leak might get the owner's attention.


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## Westgolf (18 Sep 2018)

Bronte said:


> Now that's crazy. I think an initial letter from your solicitor threatening to sue if they don't repair the leak might get the owner's attention.



Thanks Bronte,

Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it ! How anybody could let this type of thing continue for almost 6 weeks without doing anything about it is beyond belief. She has ignored us, our loss assessor, her tenant, everybody. Legal action will be taken anyway to sort the matter out but in the meantime if she would even begin investigating to find the exact source it would represent some progress. As mentioned earlier in the thread we will have to vacate the house due to level of damage, but at this rate we won't be back in before Christmas !


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## Westgolf (20 Sep 2018)

An update : a plumber finally arrived to the adjoining property yesterday afternoon but had no idea of the level of damage caused until I brought him into our property for a look. He is only starting to try and identity the source now but I suppose its some, however little, progress.


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## Westgolf (29 Sep 2018)

Another update. Plumber next door tells me",the source of the leak has been stopped " Refuses to detail the exact cause and what he has done to repair it. Neighbours assessor refuses to confirm repair done and details of same - only want the info in order that I can start reinstatement of my house without the prospect of a repeat or further damage. ??  Its coming up on three months rapidly and we seem to be slowed at every juncture.


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## noproblem (29 Sep 2018)

I would certainly be making a claim through the next doors insurance. What happens if you have a claim for insurance in the future related to this? Your insurance people may send an assessor and questions will come up,  it might also show you were negligent in not pursuing the neighbour.


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## Westgolf (30 Sep 2018)

noproblem said:


> I would certainly be making a claim through the next doors insurance. What happens if you have a claim for insurance in the future related to this? Your insurance people may send an assessor and questions will come up,  it might also show you were negligent in not pursuing the neighbour.



Have requested access for my nominated engineer to view the neighbouring property. My insurance company also seeking to view the (so far undisclosed) leak source and ascertain what the issue is and exact details of how it was identified and how it was repaired. Will be looking at claiming,  I suspect insurance company will also be bringing an action separately for recovery.


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## DirectDevil (1 Oct 2018)

Westgolf said:


> The Irish water meter is constantly moving. We have observed it for two different 24 hour periods. It indicates a flow but doesn't indicate where the leak is merely that there is ongoing movement of water ?



Good idea. Be sure to note the actual readings as well as time and date of each reading you take.

In time there might be difficulties though in trying to get this evidence in i.e. data protection and the like.


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## DirectDevil (1 Oct 2018)

In general terms there seems to be a good cause of action in negligence and nuisance.

+1 moving promptly as OP does have an obligation to minimise losses.

If OP's insurers are going to cover this loss as an insured peril operating under the policy they can pay OP - less any excess - and then fund the action against the adjoining property for recovery of outlay by way of subrogation rights. If this happens OP be sure to get any uninsured losses included in the action.

Insurers do not have to wait until indemnity has actually been provided to start exercising subrogation rights. This arises under the express subrogation condition. This may be very relevant here as you may need to get a court order to gain access for a "lawful" inspection by your engineer.

Once you have your engineering evidence you may need to seek an interim injunction directing the other party to terminate the ingress.


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