Study shows
New research from Direct Line Home Insurance reveals Brits spend over £700m repairing damage caused by water leaking into their home from a neighbour’s property. Over the last five years, four million adults in the UK have been affected by escaping water from a neighbour’s home, with approximately 800,000 affected each year. These incidents cost on average £858 to repair and one in seven (15 per cent m per cent) have had to pay over £1,500 to repair the damage.
Interestingly, the victims of the water damage are more likely to alert their neighbours to the leak in their property than the other way around. Despite not being allowed to, 12 per cent entered their neighbour’s property to deal with the escape of water, which is a risky strategy as they could be breaking the law. If someone in England or Wales needs to enter a property causing a leak and the resident isn’t home, they should call the Police. In Scotland, council guidance recommends they should be called if a householder can’t contact their neighbour.
Damage to plaster (29 per cent), paint (26 per cent) and damp in the walls (22 per cent) are the most common problems caused by escaping water, but it can also cause damp in the ceilings (21 per cent). Of those who have experienced water damage because of neighbours, nearly half (47 per cent) were living in a flat at the time of the incident, showing how vulnerable flat dwellers are to their neighbour’s plumbing problems
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