We have a 1930's semi (without sarking). Our neighbour contacted us the
other day say that that following the heavy rain, she's got some water
marking in the front corner of her upstairs front bedroom - the corner
where the two houses meet.

She called in her insurance company who sent a surveyor. They have
rejected the claim saying:

"From the inspection of your property, it was identified that water
ingress has damaged the ceiling in the front bedroom. Water has entered
the property via the roof above. We inspected the roof and found that
there was a missing tile and two dislodged tiles at the front edge of
the chimney-stack built over the party wall. There was no evidence of
storm damage to the roof, which is displaying signs of aging, such as
moss growth between the tiles. As you are aware, your buildings policy
provides cover for damage to the structure of your property caused by
events detailed in your policy documents. The damage described above is
considered to be the result of wear and tear, which is not an insured
event and therefore XXXX are unable to cover any expenses incurred in
its repair."

The neighbour spoke to Age Concern (who were the ones to arranged the
insurance) who said that as it was over the party wall section, that
both her and myself are jointly responsible for the repair.

This sounds fair, if the leak is caused by the missing tile/dislodged
tiles. But I just wanted to make sure about it.

She is going to get quotes from two local roofing people (who are on the
list of recommended/approved people provided by Trading Standards). If
they come up with other repairs they think are necessary to the roof
(ie. elsewhere, away from the middle) - I'll insist on only paying for
the work which is related to the party section of the wall - is that
reasonable? She seems okay with this, and is aware of people who try to
bump up the amount of work.


A picture of the roof is he
http://www.swampie.ukfsn.org/IMG_0100(Large).JPG

We're aware of the missing tile to the left (which is our part of the
roof) and we've not had a problem with that - might ask the guy to quote
for replacing it whilst he's up there - but it's the bit in front of the
chimney stack (which is on the party wall) which is where they're saying
the problem is. I can see a missing tile, and water may have been blown
up in the high wind/rain we had. The actual water damage is at the
front of the room, but may have run down inside the roof, rather than
straight down the edge of the chimney.

Also - any ideas of the sort of price I should expect for the work?

Thanks

David

"David Hearn" wrote in message
...
We have a 1930's semi (without sarking). Our neighbour contacted us the
other day say that that following the heavy rain, she's got some water
marking in the front corner of her upstairs front bedroom - the corner
where the two houses meet.


A picture of the roof is he
http://www.swampie.ukfsn.org/IMG_0100(Large).JPG

We're aware of the missing tile to the left (which is our part of the
roof) and we've not had a problem with that - might ask the guy to quote
for replacing it whilst he's up there - but it's the bit in front of the
chimney stack (which is on the party wall) which is where they're saying
the problem is. I can see a missing tile, and water may have been blown
up in the high wind/rain we had. The actual water damage is at the
front of the room, but may have run down inside the roof, rather than
straight down the edge of the chimney.

Possible, but I notice that your gutter is smaller than hers. Maybe it
couldn't cope with the deluge and a little water got splashed up under the
tiles? Worth popping out to have a look next time you get a deluge!

Mark

On 2006-10-14 10:26:52 +0100, David Hearn said:

We have a 1930's semi (without sarking). Our neighbour contacted us
the other day say that that following the heavy rain, she's got some
water marking in the front corner of her upstairs front bedroom - the
corner where the two houses meet.

She called in her insurance company who sent a surveyor. They have
rejected the claim saying:

"From the inspection of your property, it was identified that water
ingress has damaged the ceiling in the front bedroom. Water has
entered the property via the roof above. We inspected the roof and
found that there was a missing tile and two dislodged tiles at the
front edge of the chimney-stack built over the party wall. There was
no evidence of storm damage to the roof, which is displaying signs of
aging, such as moss growth between the tiles. As you are aware, your
buildings policy provides cover for damage to the structure of your
property caused by events detailed in your policy documents. The
damage described above is considered to be the result of wear and tear,
which is not an insured event and therefore XXXX are unable to cover
any expenses incurred in its repair."

The neighbour spoke to Age Concern (who were the ones to arranged the
insurance) who said that as it was over the party wall section, that
both her and myself are jointly responsible for the repair.

This sounds fair, if the leak is caused by the missing tile/dislodged
tiles. But I just wanted to make sure about it.

This looks as though it's a missing tile issue, as you say, and there
doesn't seem to be sign of storm etc. damage so no insurance claim.

Typically you would be jointly responsible for this type of thing and
generally if the chimney needed overall repair.



She is going to get quotes from two local roofing people (who are on
the list of recommended/approved people provided by Trading Standards).
If they come up with other repairs they think are necessary to the
roof (ie. elsewhere, away from the middle) - I'll insist on only paying
for the work which is related to the party section of the wall - is
that reasonable? She seems okay with this, and is aware of people who
try to bump up the amount of work.

That's fair too. You might want to take an active part in the
conversations with the builders so that a) there is fair play and b) to
cover what you might want done such as the missing tile further over.
That one is sitting in the gutter but one can't see if it's broken.
Either way it would be an idea to get it collected from there so that
it doesn't drop on someone's head.


A picture of the roof is he http://www.swampie.ukfsn.org/IMG_0100(Large).JPG

We're aware of the missing tile to the left (which is our part of the
roof) and we've not had a problem with that - might ask the guy to
quote for replacing it whilst he's up there - but it's the bit in front
of the chimney stack (which is on the party wall) which is where
they're saying the problem is. I can see a missing tile, and water may
have been blown up in the high wind/rain we had. The actual water
damage is at the front of the room, but may have run down inside the
roof, rather than straight down the edge of the chimney.

Also - any ideas of the sort of price I should expect for the work?

I would have thought the whole job ought not to exceed a couple of
hundred, including a careful inspection all round the stack etc.

What's the story with the gutters at the boundary? They appear to be
separate. Does this result in water dripping off of the tiles at the
party wall? Could it be responsible for anything?




Thanks

David

"David Hearn" wrote in message
...
We have a 1930's semi (without sarking). Our neighbour contacted us the
other day say that that following the heavy rain, she's got some water
marking in the front corner of her upstairs front bedroom - the corner
where the two houses meet.

She called in her insurance company who sent a surveyor. They have
rejected the claim saying:

"From the inspection of your property, it was identified that water
ingress has damaged the ceiling in the front bedroom. Water has entered
the property via the roof above. We inspected the roof and found that
there was a missing tile and two dislodged tiles at the front edge of
the chimney-stack built over the party wall. There was no evidence of
storm damage to the roof, which is displaying signs of aging, such as
moss growth between the tiles. As you are aware, your buildings policy
provides cover for damage to the structure of your property caused by
events detailed in your policy documents. The damage described above is
considered to be the result of wear and tear, which is not an insured
event and therefore XXXX are unable to cover any expenses incurred in
its repair."

The neighbour spoke to Age Concern (who were the ones to arranged the
insurance) who said that as it was over the party wall section, that
both her and myself are jointly responsible for the repair.

This sounds fair, if the leak is caused by the missing tile/dislodged
tiles. But I just wanted to make sure about it.

She is going to get quotes from two local roofing people (who are on the
list of recommended/approved people provided by Trading Standards). If
they come up with other repairs they think are necessary to the roof
(ie. elsewhere, away from the middle) - I'll insist on only paying for
the work which is related to the party section of the wall - is that
reasonable? She seems okay with this, and is aware of people who try to
bump up the amount of work.


A picture of the roof is he
http://www.swampie.ukfsn.org/IMG_0100(Large).JPG

We're aware of the missing tile to the left (which is our part of the
roof) and we've not had a problem with that - might ask the guy to quote
for replacing it whilst he's up there - but it's the bit in front of the
chimney stack (which is on the party wall) which is where they're saying
the problem is. I can see a missing tile, and water may have been blown
up in the high wind/rain we had. The actual water damage is at the
front of the room, but may have run down inside the roof, rather than
straight down the edge of the chimney.

Also - any ideas of the sort of price I should expect for the work?

Thanks

David

=========================
Judging by your picture it would appear that the guttering to the left is
smaller than that to the right and it also appears that the smaller guttering is
encroaching on to the neighbour's property by about 12" / 15". This would tend
to spill any overflow on to the adjacent property.

If this is correct then it may be that your guttering is the cause of the damage
to the neighbour's property, in which case you would probably be liable for the
full cost of the repair to her property. It would also depend on how the
different gutters came to be there and who was responsible for the encroachment
/ gap.

Cic.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users.
It has removed 1293 spam emails to date.
Paying users do not have this message in their emails.
Try SPAMfighter for free now!

Judging by your picture it would appear that the guttering to the left is
smaller than that to the right and it also appears that the smaller guttering
is
encroaching on to the neighbour's property by about 12" / 15". This would tend
to spill any overflow on to the adjacent property.

If this is correct then it may be that your guttering is the cause of the
damage
to the neighbour's property, in which case you would probably be liable for the
full cost of the repair to her property. It would also depend on how the
different gutters came to be there and who was responsible for the encroachment
/ gap.

Cic.



I'd go along with that. Have a look up in the roof under the tile and
see if these that much light showing through it.

Course you might be able to bodge it wit a fair old bit of silicone
sealant While someone's up there they could tie down the TV aerial
feeders while their at it!....

--
Tony Sayer

"David Hearn" wrote in message
...
We have a 1930's semi (without sarking). Our neighbour contacted us the
other day say that that following the heavy rain, she's got some water
marking in the front corner of her upstairs front bedroom - the corner
where the two houses meet.
.....
Also - any ideas of the sort of price I should expect for the work?

If, as it appears, the roof has been there since the house was built, the
tiles are probably near the end of their useful life. They get more porous
with age and there comes a time when they need to be replaced with new ones.
Even if you can get away with some patch repairs now, you ought to be
budgeting for a new roof within the next few years.

Colin Bignell