Water damaged ceiling

[paulb94]

Hi everyone I am a self employed plumber working in Scotland, around 2 months ago I had disconnected a water tank up a loft. When I was draining the tank through the standing drain pipe a bit of water spilled because of the previous plumber who converted the heating side had disconnected the drain from the F&E tank and left it as an open end. Small amount of water dripped down for about 5 minutes. A week later I received an aggressive phone call stating the ceiling had fallen down so I offered to pay for any repairs but wasn't given the chance before the tenant had quotes from elsewhere so I offered to go through insurance and didn't hear any reply until the work was done and it was a bill that is exceptionally high for replacing a ceiling. I'm now getting threats via letters and phone calls for payment. Anyone had a similar experience or know what my options are.

I will also state I've not seen any proof this has even happened yet and not are not willing to give a breakdown of the bill

 

[king of pipes]

How ever careful you are sometimes accidents happen you should of got the repair sorted now your having to pay through the nose lesson learned. What's the excess on your insurance if the claim is more than that then pass your insurance details to the irate customer and let them deal with it . Kop

 

[Brambles]

Probably not what you want to here - but did you tell them at the time what had happened - or did you just leave hoping for the best?


If you know that you have spilt water - particularly onto plaster board or lathe and plaster - deal with it immediately. Tell the customer what has happened, what you are going to do and the timescale it is going to take.

If you are culpable and the customer discovers the issue then undertakes the repair - you are always going to be on the back foot agreeing the cost

 

[paulb94]

Probably not what you want to here - but did you tell them at the time what had happened - or did you just leave hoping for the best?


If you know that you have spilt water - particularly onto plaster board or lathe and plaster - deal with it immediately. Tell the customer what has happened, what you are going to do and the timescale it is going to take.

If you are culpable and the customer discovers the issue then undertakes the repair - you are always going to be on the back foot agreeing the cost

I told them it had happened but at the time there was no damage I thought I'd managed to get it all and then I did offer to get it repaired but was never given the chance

 

[Harvest Fields]

I am under the impression that. Legally you have to be given the chance to put the works right. If you have communications stating you were willing to fix and Didn’t get a response back and wasn’t given the chance to fix then surely that is on them and not you. Have have tried mediation.

 

[oz-plumber]

Re read your post from a 3rd persons point of view ( like us reading your post )

Call you insurance company and explain the situation to them.

I wouldn't lie to them, but I would say after about 5 minutes you realized the drain from the F&E tank was leaking, and caused the damage.

Let them know you offered to inspect and assess the damage.
You also offered that if the damage was @ your excess you would pay for the repairs yourself.

You were never given the chance of inspecting, assessing or repairing the damage.

Let the Insurance Company deal with the rest.

The customer will have to present all the costs of repairs to your Insurance Company for any reclaim.
You will be up for your excess - bit that's life.

Request the customer gives all their details so you can proceed with the claim through your Insurance, fill out the forms and send them a copy.

If they are chancers, the problem may go away when they have to present invoices for repair costs.
But then again, it may not