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Help & advice needed - apartment flood

PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:13 am
by Katnic1
Hi everyone
I am needing some help and advice please, I have an apartment with roof terrace in Guardamar and with all the recent rain the apartment has flooded. It seems as though the drain may be blocked on the roof terrace and the rain has come down the stairs and into the apartment under the door. There is a small amount of damage in my apartment and mouldy/black walls, which I can live with and sort out, but the water has gone through my kitchen floor into the apartment below. It has caused a hole in their ceiling and damage to their kitchen. They want me to pay for the damage!
I am insured but because this was flooding caused by rain or act of god am I responsible? I have read that I am not and they should claim on their own insurance but it seems a grey area. Has anyone else had similar experiences that could give factual advice. The apartment below is Spanish owned and currently rented out. We are due to got out next week but both my husband and I are having sleepless nights over it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Katie

Re: Help & advice needed - apartment flood

PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:28 am
by Jan
Katnic1 wrote:Hi everyone
I am needing some help and advice please, I have an apartment with roof terrace in Guardamar and with all the recent rain the apartment has flooded. It seems as though the drain may be blocked on the roof terrace and the rain has come down the stairs and into the apartment under the door. There is a small amount of damage in my apartment and mouldy/black walls, which I can live with and sort out, but the water has gone through my kitchen floor into the apartment below. It has caused a hole in their ceiling and damage to their kitchen. They want me to pay for the damage!
I am insured but because this was flooding caused by rain or act of god am I responsible? I have read that I am not and they should claim on their own insurance but it seems a grey area. Has anyone else had similar experiences that could give factual advice. The apartment below is Spanish owned and currently rented out. We are due to got out next week but both my husband and I are having sleepless nights over it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Katie


Do you own the roof terrace or is it communal? If communal then I would contact the administrator of the building as assuming you pay a community charge, they may have building insurance for the communal areas and may be liable Just a thought.

Re: Help & advice needed - apartment flood

PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:36 am
by Katnic1
Thanks for the reply. The roof terrace is owned by us. I should point out that we are not sure what caused the problem as we have not been out since June, so it may not be a blocked drain, just excess of water from heavy rain. We fly out on Sunday so will know more then, but just wanted to be prepared for dealing with the neighbours below. Everything I have read seems to indicate that we claim off our insurance and they claim off theirs? (Assuming that they have some)

Re: Help & advice needed - apartment flood

PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:40 am
by Janjan
It doesnt have to be a blocked drain as having lived in a duplex with roof terrace and stairs the heavy rain just cascades down them. Luckily our Front Door was inset and no water got in.
What does your Policy say? Ask the Insurance Company if your neighbours should sort it themselves if you aren't covered. Don't be bullied until you know the answer.

Re: Help & advice needed - apartment flood

PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:45 am
by Jan
:text-goodpost:

Hope it works out well for you. We were thinking about selling our property and buying an apartment in Guardamar...makes you think!

Let us know how it goes. If you do pay a community charge I would still ask the President or Administrator if you get any problems sorting this out....and as above don't be bullied (good advice!)

Good luck.

Re: Help & advice needed - apartment flood

PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 12:50 pm
by Chrisdee
A neighbours drain in the roof terrace got blocked up with stones and leaves and a similar thing happened, once drain cleared all OK and the neighbours damp patch dried out. Another urb around the corner had very small holes in the wall on the veranda and when it rained heavily it was too much for the hole to cope, water built up and crept under the patio door's and flooded them out. Once the holes were made bigger all ok

Re: Help & advice needed - apartment flood

PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 12:53 pm
by Chrisdee
Def speak with your insurance company and you will know one way or the other if you and below are covered. We had a leak in the pipework in the wall. Damaged next door and they were covered under our insurance

Re: Help & advice needed - apartment flood

PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 2:39 pm
by Paul58
Katnic1 wrote:Hi everyone
I am needing some help and advice please, I have an apartment with roof terrace in Guardamar and with all the recent rain the apartment has flooded. It seems as though the drain may be blocked on the roof terrace and the rain has come down the stairs and into the apartment under the door. There is a small amount of damage in my apartment and mouldy/black walls, which I can live with and sort out, but the water has gone through my kitchen floor into the apartment below. It has caused a hole in their ceiling and damage to their kitchen. They want me to pay for the damage!
I am insured but because this was flooding caused by rain or act of god am I responsible? I have read that I am not and they should claim on their own insurance but it seems a grey area. Has anyone else had similar experiences that could give factual advice. The apartment below is Spanish owned and currently rented out. We are due to got out next week but both my husband and I are having sleepless nights over it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Katie



It depends on your insurance company. Ours would repair any damage to our apartment but would only deal with a claim from the neighbours' insurance company for damage to theirs. The neighbour wasn't insured and wasn't too happy. I referred him to our insurance company but he repaired the damage himself. Our excess was more than the damage so we also repaired ourselves, sometimes it's just not worth claiming.

Re: Help & advice needed - apartment flood

PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:21 am
by Busters Mum
Check with your insurance company. They’ll tell you if you’re covered and then you can take it from there.

Re: Help & advice needed - apartment flood

PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 11:56 am
by Spiritsmum
its only a thought, you say that you own the roof terrance...do you have access to it, if so I think that good maintenance is down to yourselves, however, if like us it is only a service area, with no access unless a ladder is used, then it is a community problem. We got flooded and the insurance both for our house and the community said that it was due to poor maintenance and refused payment to us!!!!

Good luck to you, really feel for you, it is a horrible thing to be flooded but happens a lot. We now have a community maintenance contract and have had the roofs all tanked with a special paint, cost us all a bit extra but worth it.