Hi GL,

I assume as its they are flats you share the same Building Insurance which the Freeholder arranges. The policy will normally cover Loss of Rental Income if there is a damage claim eg a fire. Under this section the downstairs landlord could possible claim from the policy for the period the downstairs flat was uninhabitable and during this period the tenant moved out/into alternative accomadation.

For the downstairs landlord to sue you personally for the loss of the tenant he / she would have to prove you were legally liable. To do this they would have to prove you were legally negligent, this in effect means they have to prove you could have "Reasonably avoided this". Just because there was a leak does not necccessarily mean you are legally liable so there is no guarantee he will win the case.

The building policy you have probably includes free legal advice on it, there is normally a telephone number for this in the policy next to where the phone number to make a normal claim is. Give them a ring and get advice from them.

Yes he can claim for loss of rent, but £8k seems rather high and he would have to be able to show your insurance coy. that this figure is justified. If he has sent you correspondence to this effect, you should pass it on to your insurer immediately.

If he is trying it on with you, advise him to put it writing and that you will let your insurance coy deal with it on your behalf.

Ian

Hi

I have recently had an incident where my property's (occupied by a tenant) water pipes leaked into the downstairs flat (also occupied by a tenant of another landlord). This happened twice and both times I have claimed on insurance to pay for the repairs to the downstairs flat, apparently on both occassions the flat downstairs was habitable but damage was caused to the paintwork.

The downstairs flats landlords is now claiming that because of the two leaks, he has lost his tenant and is now saying he is going to claim against me (£8k) for the costs of gaining a new tenant for his flat. Can he do this? If he can, would this be covered by insurance?

Any help gratefully received... Thanks