Advice Wanted - Roofer causes £'000's worth of Water Damage.

[Woody3]

Need a bit of advice please...

I am currently having a new roof on my House.

A Roofing Contractor is carrying this out for me...

On Friday, the exisiting roof tiles/battens/felt etc were removed and by the end of the day, new underlay was laid.

Contractors left site thinking the roof was water tight.

Friday Evening came and we had a massive down pour of rain. The roof was in fact not water tight!!!

Water was pouring in all night and has damaged walls, ceilings, floors etc to both first and ground floor.

What should do I need to do? Do I need to get a professional in to assess the damage and work on my behalf?...It's caused £'000's of pounds worth of damage to the property.

Any pointers would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[D14 AYS]

Woody3 said:

A Roofing Contractor is carrying this out for me...

Did you call the roofers when it was leaking ?

[Spudler]

Claim on his insurance would be the obvious route.
If he doesn't have public liability then your gonna struggle.

Edited by Spudler on Saturday 23 January 22:18

[Woody3]

Yes, straight away.

He came out last night to assess it...

[CatherineJ]

His insurance should cover it.

[Wings]

You MUST ensure that before repairs are started, that the premises, walls & ceilings etc. etc. are thoroughly dried out, so hire an industrial dehumidifier.

I once went through the same sort of property damage, and even after using a dehumidifier and redecorating, I had mold and fungus growing on walls for weeks after.

[Piglet]

I would suggest that you contact YOUR buildings and contents insurers for now and see how willing they are to be involved at this stage. Hopefully they will be prepared to deal with the claims for now and will then pursue any losses against the roofer/his insurers.

[rovermorris999]

I'd try the builder first before contacting your insurer. If he's reasonable and is covered you should be ok. Once you told your insurers I'd bet a pound to a penny your premium will go up a lot next year.

[Piglet]

rovermorris999 said:

I'd try the builder first before contacting your insurer. If he's reasonable and is covered you should be ok. Once you told your insurers I'd bet a pound to a penny your premium will go up a lot next year.

Have you ever made a claim against someone else's PI insurance? I'm guessing not...It's not about whether he is reasonable it's about whether his insurers are and they will not pay out until negligence is proven.

It's a pig of an area to deal with and without good advice and good knowledge his insurers will roll a claimant over.

Go through your own insurers get the house sorted and habitable and then worry about claiming it back.

An increased premium is the least of someone's worries in this situation.