Shower Pump Has Corroded & Flooded, Who Is Responsible ?

[CW1]

Hi,

Following on from my q about buildings & contents insurance, I don't have contents insurance for a property I rent out (I've always been led to believe that's the tenant's responsibility, mine is for buildings insurance) so where most of the damage is non structural, ie. pump needs to be replaced, floorboards, floor tiles & carpet replaced, would this be covered by the tenant's insurance ?

[fiction-factory]

If the tenant is insured for contents cover he/she could claim and the insurer may then seek to recover from you. If the tenant is not insured he/she could still try to recover the money from you. Of the pump was covered by a guarantee or if you can provide it was fitted incorrectly you could try to claim back from whoever installed it

[woofgang]

If I were a tenant, I wouldn't be wanting to affect my insurance record for something that the landlord should be responsible for, ie the shower pump and resulting damage.

[CW1]

The tenant does have contents insurance, will have to try found out if they'd try to recover from me, imagine that'd be way more expensive than me just paying for the work myself !
Pump is 2½yrs old so won't still be under guarantee though I'll try find out. Installer is overseas.

[CW1]

I agree woofgang, but if landlords don't have contents insurance what's the option ? As an aside, the tenant has made it worse, the ceiling wasn't affected until after they used the shower after telling me there was a problem ! *doh*

[carrot99]

Most of the damage is considered structural. The pump, floorboards and fitted floor tiles come under your building insurance and the carpet would be covered under the contents' insurance.

I've recently had a leak in the kitchen and the removable vinyl flooring came under contents' but the stuck down tiles beneath came under building insurance.

The contents' insurance covers the removable things your tenant could take when moving out. You wouldn't expect them to take the floorboards or shower pump, would you? They could take the carpet if they pay for it!

[bhg481]

Our shower pump is a Salamander and has a 3-year guarantee, so you might be lucky.

[BAKERS DOZEN]

Our insurance company advised us that if you imagined picking your house up, turning it over and shaking it, then anything that fell down or moved was "contents" and everything that stayed put was "buildings". If that is still the case then the shower would come under buildings insurance.