Is a leaseholder liable for water damage to flats below?

If an insurance claim has been opened, why is the flat owner below not pursuing the insurance company for losses?

The insurance is very unlikely to cover the actual repairs in your flat, but if it’s a proper block policy the consequential losses (i.e. damager to property) should be covered.

The insurers may want you to pay the excess.

I suggest you refer the affected neighbours to the management company in the first instance as that’s where there is a contractual liability.

As I understand it from having similar problems in the past the only way you are responsible for the damage caused to the lower flat is if negligence can be proved against you or your tenant

Check your own insurance to see if you’re covered for third party liability and if you are let them handle it and tell them that the management company are also in the case. This may be your best course because there’s nothing to say that the management company’s insurers won’t end up suing you for the damage anyway!

Buildings insurance should have a waiver of the insurers’ right to claim against a flat owner in the building, provided you’ve acted quickly to stop the leak, as the insurance is taken out for the benefit of all of you. Check with the insurance brokers.
The fact that the buildings insurance covers the loss may mean that the owner below has no loss to claim against you. You can suggest to the owner who is threatening you that they take legal advice and send a formal letter before action to clarify what loss they would be claiming from you given that the insurance is in place.

Firstly the same thing happened to me back in 2024. Flat below mine complained of water damage and then without allowing me to quote for repairs got his own contractor in. 5 months later I got a nasty bill for 1400.00 from the block management company headed one-off decoration invoice. Why?? because the ll below claimed against the buildings insurance as part of the so called damage affected part of a communal area and if I did not pay he would take me to small claims. When i checkd his invoice there were some things I noticed could not have been affected by the water damage like a broken hob but I didn’t want the hassle. The excess at the time was 1500.00 coveniently just over the cost of my repair!! As soon as the leak was reported (I was out of the country at the time) I arranged my letting agents to inspect to find out the washing machine was blocked. The plumber who attended apparently made it safe advising my tenant not to use it. But I got another complaint below that water was cascading down and low and behold tenant continued to use it even though I had an urgent one due to be delivered next day (not my responsibility to replace white goods but I did) Therefore I asked if the tenant via the letting agent due to his negigence could contribute towards the damage but he never replied. Back in Sptember of last year ll below was told by his contractor mold had started to appear on the ceiling ( note his flat was never in a good condition and his previous tenant complained of mold but nothing was ever done) and it was due to my leak. I said Ive been diligent all the way through and he needs to prove negligence. However because I didn’t want any repercussions I forked out another 400.00. Now the building insurance excess has been bumped up to 5k per claim making it impossible to claim due to previous poor claims history. So I have now insured my own apartment seperately just incase flat above leaks into mine!

I think I’d want to see a report of the repairs under taken by the first plumber. OP said it was due to her flats bath overflow.

Another leak three months later and repaired by another plumber. I’d want the report on that repair too and see whether the first repair was not done properly or a different repair needed.

If the first repair was not done properly and the pipework within her flat then there could be a claim for negligence which should then be claimed against the first plumber by OP as consequential loss.

OP needs to get these reports to put an insurance claim under her own landlord insurance as her tenants landlord

Hi Kizzie
Noted. However I diid raise that issue with the letting agent that he (tt) was negligent and continued to use it when told not to. We have a paper trail stating my strict instructions not to use it as he could quite easily have waited or used a laundrette. (I would have reimbursed him) The first leak imo was not repaired correctly, ie no stain blocker etc. So 12 months later why should I be liable. In fact this developed into a confrontation as I said before any further work is carried out I want my guy to assess to which he agreed but 3 months later after no reply I find he has a new tenant in there and I get a bill. I’m f…. fuming as I knew he was just getting his flat ready at my expense. Last year I contacted the leasehold adv sv who basically said if it goes to court I wouldn’t stand a chance as it came from my apartment. The ll below me had no insurance I believe. I saw all his invoices and when I viewed his apartment with his contractor I asked who did the initial decoration as it didn’t appear properly done. Immediately he became defensive obviously.

Reply to the comment left by Doug Ellison at 14/01/2026 – 10:55
The insurance claim should cover any loss of rent suffered by the occupier below. However, for this or any other compensation to be paid, the insurer must agree to it, and the owner must be able to demonstrate that the tenant actually incurred a loss. Without evidence, the insurer will not pay.

I believe that you are not liable for compensation or loss of rent in this situation. Loss of rent applies when a tenant has to be relocated or when essential services such as water, electricity, or hot water are unavailable. The tenant may request a reduction of rent but if it is not a claimable loss, the landlord can reject the reduction. If the landlord wishes to reduce it, then it is at the landlord discretion and you neighbour shouldn’t request the payment from you.

You will need to pay the policy excess, although you should check the lease. In some cases, the lease states that the excess is not payable by the leaseholder unless there is negligence, so it’s important to review the lease terms.

Repairs to the leak itself are not covered by the insurance.

I had a similar situation a few months ago. We replaced an old bathtub with a shower and enclosure. The plumber hadn’t screwed the shower trap in correctly so every time we were taking a shower the waste water was flowing under the trap and under the shower tray. A basin in the concrete floor below meant that water was pooling there instead of flowing out across our own bathroom floor (in which case we would have noticed a problem). After a particularly long shower one night the bedroom ceiling of the flat below collapsed. We had to use our own home emergency cover to get a plumber to trace and remediate the problem. The building managing agent had to raise a claim with block insurance and organise to get the ceiling reinstated. We then had to pay the escape of water excess (£450) on the buildings insurance claim (£625) for the ceiling reinstatement.

Escape of water comes down to negligence. If you acted as soon as possible, you are not liable. If the leak was caused by overflowing taps left on by the occupier, or they knew of an unfixed leak and carried on using the faulty pipework, they are negligent and liable.

The flats below can claim on their contents insurance to cover the damage to their property, and it should cover the walls/ceiling too. For larger claims it might go on the flats building insurance instead

The one caveat to consider here, is some flats all agree to not claim for leaks because it will impact premiums. But this only works if all leaseholders informally agree to it and stick to it. It will keep their service charge down as the insurance premium for building insurance is much cheaper.