Who pays for water damage?

I have a friend who is a tenant on the middle floor of a 3 story apartment block.

For want of a better way to describe it, the hot water system in one of the top floor units exploded earlier this week, and there is significant water damage to the ceilings of several units on the middle floor plus the common areas. Water has leaked through the all parts of the ceiling and is damaging the contents of the units (bedding, furniture etc). Fire brigade had to break into the top floor unit and turn off the water supply as the owner was out. They advised to use minimal electricity (fridge only) in case water is collecting around the power cables in the walls. She is concerned about mould if it doesn't dry completely.

Friend is unsure who is responsible to pay for the clean up/damage to ceiling and damage to her contents. She has her contents insured, but will strata insurance cover the lot, or is the landlord responsible via their policy?

Friend's lease has expired and is on a month-to-month. Last week the landlord asked for a $10 a week increase and a 1 year lease. Friend would like to say "can the increase be foregone in light of the inconvenience?" How would you approach that negotiation?

thanks

 

My take is strata owns the floors/ceilings separating the different levels and they will be responsible for the fix. The property manager should be communicating this to your friend clearly, and should have even offered a rent reduction. If I were your friend, I will be looking at renting a new place.

 

Water pipes for the sole purpose of servicing a single unit would belong to and be the responsibility of that unit unless otherwise stated in the by-laws etc. Owner for the top floor should be responsible for cost of the pipes, and I would suggest the damages caused as a result if not covered by insurance policies of the the other effect parties. Your friend Marty would need to have their own insurance for contents (no different to other types of property that is affected by storm damage as an example) while the starta enforces repairs from the top level owner for the building repairs.

 

Thanks both, appreciate it

 

Assuming your friend is in a NSW strata block, then your friend would get their managing agent to get the strata manager to approach the Strata Committee with a "...we need to get this sorted ASAP".

And then a contractor will get the leak dealt with, and the Committee can fight the details out with the owner of the offending lot (ie. someone who is not you.)

And then you would make a claim on your insurance for your contents, such as your new Bose hi-fi, your 75" TV and your vintage Marshall quad box that just got soaked.

And the landlord might be queried about rent increase, as they may have mis-spelled decrease, and they should take this up with the strata manager, as they are about to lose rent because of the offending owner. So the issue needs to be addressed ASAP, just in case anybody (who is not you) is dragging the chain.

And the landlord should be made well aware of the damage to their unit that the offending owner has caused, just to motivate them a bit.

How's that sound?

 

Pretty much as has already been described above.

The Strata will only be responsible for sorting out repairs to the building, and your friend will be responsible for clean up and repairs to her contents. She will need to contact her Contents Insurer to ask about claiming this through her policy.

In situations like an exploding hot water system usually no one is at fault. However, if a third party was found to be responsible for the damage, your friend would still need to claim through her own insurer and they would pursue the third party for recovery of these costs.

The same would apply for any damage caused to the landlord's "contents", such as carpet etc. They will need to claim through their insurer.

 

As Ricky said
This would be an insurance claim by the owner of the unit