Compensation for damage by the management company. The apartment was flooded due to the fault of the management company: what to do
What to do if the apartment was flooded due to the fault of the management company, and is it possible to demand compensation for damage from the utility companies?
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After you see that you have been flooded, the first thing you need to do is contact the company that services your home - the housing office.
They must respond immediately:
- eliminate the cause of the flood;
- It is mandatory to draw up an act on the bay.
In the act, the authorized person must indicate:
- cause of flooding;
- volume of damaged property and rooms;
- place where the flood was discovered;
- composition of the commission;
- owner's initials.
At the time of inspection of the apartment, the commission should consist of five people, two of them can be invited as witnesses. If the utility companies refuse to pay for the damage, you can ask them to appear in court as witnesses.
If you have any comments, you, as the owner, can voice them, and the service representative can record them in the act.
Emergency
Civil legislation regulates relations arising when an apartment is flooded. The issue is resolved more narrowly in.
If a person was harmed or his property was damaged, then he can claim compensation for the damage by the guilty party in full.
If they refuse to compensate for damage, the injured party has every right to go to court.
What to do?
If a flood is detected due to the fault of the housing and communal services, first of all, disconnect all household appliances from electricity and call the utility service, remembering your application number ().
Before the utility workers arrive, try to check what caused the flooding:
- open tap;
- burst pipe;
- leaky roof.
Try to leave everything in its place and not remove anything. An authorized person must record in detail the consequences of the flood.
Upon arrival, the commission must draw up a flood report. If you refuse to travel, you can send an application by registered mail. If there is no answer, you have the right to draw up a document yourself in front of your neighbors.
The document must be executed in three copies, one of which will remain with you, as the injured party.
Based on the inspection results, the document must be signed by everyone present in the apartment. If someone refuses to sign the act, this must be recorded.
If, based on the results of the report, it turns out that the housing and communal services company is the guilty party, if the situation is favorable, you will either be reimbursed for the cost or offered to repair the damage.
If you refuse to carry out these actions, you can contact an expert appraiser who will draw up a report on the assessment of the damage object based on.
When using an expert, it is your responsibility to notify the guilty party in advance of the appraiser's arrival on the specified day.
If the representative does not ignore and visits your apartment, he will have to certify the inspection report with his signature.
Who is to blame for the flooding?
One of the first legal problems that arises instantly is precise definition those responsible for this matter.
The second problem is the correct assessment of the damage caused. To properly resolve problems, you only need the participation of a specialist.
Determining the cause of flooding will be key in this matter. After all, depending on the breakdown or defect, it will be clear who will be guilty.
So, if you are flooded due to a burst pipe, then the homeowner will be at fault, but if there is a break in the water supply, the utility company will be to blame.
Amount of damage
When drawing up a flood report, it is necessary to indicate the consequences of the flood, as well as the amount of damage suffered by the injured party.
Gradually, after the damaged areas have dried, you can draw up a report of defects for repair work, indicating the list of works, as well as the types of finishing and building materials.
One of the parties may require the preparation of an estimate indicating current prices for damaged apartment materials. Prices are based on retail prices.
This document must be sent by mail or delivered in person. When drawing up a defect report, the amount and all other calculations are carried out by the insurance company, if the parties contact them.
Flooding of the apartment due to the fault of the management company
The utility company enters into a service agreement with citizens, according to which the housing office must fulfill a list of certain responsibilities for maintaining the house and its maintenance.
Most often, utility companies are to blame for flooding due to poor roofing or when water supply or sewerage pipes break.
If you live on the top floor and you are flooded, call the utility company to quickly eliminate the cause of the flood and to draw up a procedural document about the flooding.
Thus, utility services will be the culprits of flooding if sewage pipelines rupture or they simply begin to leak.
Federal Law “On the Protection of the Rights of Consumers of Housing and Utility Services”, all damage caused must be compensated within a fairly short period of time, within which repairs can be made.
However, the period should not be more than 30 days, which is counted from the moment the claims are presented to the guilty party.
This means that the housing office must make repairs within a given period. If the company does not seek to eliminate the damage and does not respond to all statements and requests, then the issue of compensation for losses must be resolved in court.
Going to court
When filing claims in court, you first need to provide evidence according to which you confirm the damage and harm provided, as well as the connection between the action and the consequences of such flooding.
That is, you must provide written evidence of the guilt of the legal entity.
Also, before going to court, it is necessary to prepare the necessary package of documents.
Required documents
Once you receive the damage assessment report from the appraisal company, you can file a damage claim along with the flood report.
Be sure to attach the title documents for the apartment to the above documents.
As the practice of lawyers shows, it is better if, after collecting all the documents, you once again try to negotiate with the guilty person about resolving the conflict peacefully, because resolving the issue in court is a long and expensive process.
If you lose, the person at fault will have to pay all expenses incurred, as well as pay all legal costs.
Sample statement of claim
In the statement of claim, it is necessary to set out in detail the entire essence of your demands, with confirmation of all facts by written evidence, as well as references to legal norms. At the end of the presentation of the whole point, you need to indicate what exactly you want to achieve with this trial, namely, to recover the amount of harm caused and the damages caused.
What to do if you are flooded:
- First you need to quickly turn off the electricity.
- Next, you need to make sure that the cause of the emergency is not on your part. For example, riser pipes burst, etc.
- We take photos with a phone or other means, and you can also shoot a video.
- We report the incident to the Criminal Code.
- We call the ODS and invite an employee. In this case, we must record the full name of the employee who accepted the application, as well as the number of the application itself. If the person on the phone does not introduce himself, you should ask him to do so.
After everything, the management company assembles a commission, which consists of the injured party, an employee of the management company, a senior manager and a specialist from the operating office.
The full commission must analyze the extent of the damage, and then draw up an act.
An important point is the fact of confirmation of the guilt of the management organization. Such a conclusion can only be recorded by a specialist in this field. If the case goes to trial, this document will become the main evidence.
The main causes of accidents associated with flooding are:
- pipe rupture;
- roofing defects;
- sewer system.
About calculating damage
After submitting the application, the document that was recorded during the flood is used to calculate the damage. Based on this act, experts form a price list. This document includes information about the duration of the work and the object to be repaired.
If the experts conclude that the accident occurred due to the fault of the management company, then the injured party has every right to free repairs or full compensation for all losses by the management company. If the representatives of the management company are ignored, the owner can invite experts himself to prepare a report (Federal Law No. 135 of July 13, 2015).
We draw up the act
A properly executed act must contain:
- information about the owner of the apartment;
- the reasons for the flooding of the apartment and how it happened;
- what part of the living space was flooded;
- members of the commission.
If there are additional and important information, as well as comments about what happened, it is better to include them in the document.
The act is drawn up in triplicate. Signatures on the document are placed by interested parties.
It is very important not to start renovation work before trial. Otherwise, it will not be possible to prove the extent of damage.
Where to file a claim?
If the management company refuses compensation for damage after a flood, the apartment owner has every right to go to court with a statement of claim (claim). You can find out how to sue the management company.
Sometimes poorly informed residents can contact the maintenance office (DEZ) for help. This action is absolutely unnecessary and wrong. The activities of the DEZ are really aimed at ensuring the uninterrupted operation of all engineering units in an apartment building. However, this is a third-party organization, and it did not enter into any agreements with the apartment owners. Based on the above, DEZ cannot be held responsible for flooding of residential premises.
If you file a lawsuit against the DEZ office for flooding an apartment, the case will be automatically lost. After trials, as a rule, residents stop seeking justice from justice and begin to make repairs in the apartment on their own.
As a result, the management company saves money and its reputation, while the owner remains a serious loser.
If the statement of claim had been drawn up correctly from the beginning, then the owner would definitely have won the case after the accident. Therefore, if management company employees ignore your complaints and do not get in touch, you need to file a claim in court, having first received advice from an experienced lawyer.
To whom you can and where you should not complain about the Criminal Code, read.
Application to the Criminal Code
An application to the management company after flooding is filled out in the name general director or an authorized employee of the company from the owner of the apartment in which the flood occurred. The owner of the residential premises must provide his information: full name, address and telephone number. The pre-trial claim for the gulf must include:
- date and time of the accident;
- last name, first name and patronymic of the executive person recording the fact of flooding;
- date of recording of the accident;
- areas that have been flooded;
- information about calling a specialist to your home to record the accident, establish the causes and draw up the appropriate report;
- claims for damages.
Often the work requires visiting neighbors' apartments. If it is not possible to enter these apartments for any reason, then this fact must be recorded in the application.
You can read how to correctly write an application to the management company, and you will find out what the deadlines within which the management company is obliged to respond to your request are.
About the features of this question
What measures should be taken if the management organization refuses to draw up an act?
There is no need to hope that the management company will express a desire to immediately compensate for all losses associated with the accident. Moreover, the owner may be ignored for a long time or be grossly misleading. If, after transmitting information about the incident, the management company’s employees did not come, then:
- Notify the management company by means of sending a telegram.
- Draw up the act yourself, in the presence of witnesses (for example, relatives or neighbors). In this case, the fact of absence of the management company employee must be recorded in the document.
- After completing the registration of the act, you should try again to contact the unscrupulous management company. As a rule, if the management company feels that the tenant is serious, then the situation may soon change. Moreover, the changes will be positive in relation to the injured party, and the management company will agree to compensate for all damage in full.
- If you still can’t reach an agreement, then urgently call an expert. You should not delay this issue for more than five days.
- Once the independent expert’s decision has been received, you can safely demand compensation from the management company for all losses in full. And if you receive a refusal, immediately file a claim with the judicial authorities ().
In order not to bring the case to court, you need to make several attempts and still try to resolve the situation on your own through negotiations with the Criminal Code.
In the case where it was not possible to reach an agreement and the matter went to court, the main thing is not to be nervous. But you should understand that there is a long and quite labor-intensive process ahead, which will require great patience, as well as The following documents are required for court:
It is worth noting that judicial practice in such cases varies. There have been cases where the plaintiff's claim was denied. Therefore, before contacting the judicial authorities, it is necessary to obtain advice from competent and experienced lawyers. Tips on how to sue a management company can be found in
No one is immune from apartment flooding or from having a neighbor blame you for it. When something like this happens, people immediately become confused. But apartment floods often occur due to an oversight by the management company. What to do in this case? Honest experts respond.
What to do if an apartment flood occurs due to the fault of the management company?
- Turn off the power to the apartment to avoid shorting the wiring.
- Go higher up to your neighbors to assess the situation.
- Call the emergency service (112) if your neighbors are dry or if they have turned off the water shut-off valves and yours continues to flood. The team will shut off the common riser and stop the flooding.
- Notify about what happened insurance company, request that the leak be repaired urgently.
- Take photos or video of the damage.
- Request that the management company draw up a Flood Report; it is on the basis of this document that you will be able to demand compensation for damage. Its commission for drawing up the Act, as a rule, includes 5 people: 3 representatives of the Management Company and two neighbors. The latter perform the function of witnesses.
Important! If the apartment is flooded due to the fault of the Management Company, then it is given a month to repair everything and completely restore the premises.
When problems with compensation arise
When an apartment is flooded due to the fault of the management company, the organization often refuses to compensate for the damage. The company admits its guilt, eliminates the cause of the flooding, but does not plan to compensate for repair costs. This is especially true for so-called budgetary organizations. The victim can only achieve justice through the courts.
In rare cases, the management company may even refuse repairs because the company does not have the money. The only solution is to file a lawsuit demanding to oblige the management company to eliminate the leak and compensate for the damage. According to judicial practice, in most cases such cases are resolved in favor of the victim.
In rare cases, the management organization refuses to even respond to a call. If you encounter this, send a second application for drawing up an act by mail with notification of receipt, and then write a complaint to a higher organization (for example, the Moscow Housing Inspectorate). The mail notification will be evidence of improper operation of the management company.
To speed up the process, it is allowed to independently draw up a Flooding Act. It is important to involve neighbors or other strangers. Moreover, the document must be drawn up in triplicate. Everyone in the apartment must sign the act. If someone refuses, this must be recorded.
How should the act be drawn up?
The act, which is drawn up if the apartment is flooded due to the fault of the Management Company, is developed in any form. There is no strict template for this document. However, it must contain:
- Time and date of document creation.
- UK name.
- The name of the person who compiled the document.
- Information about the owner of the apartment.
- Date of flooding of housing.
- Damaged items and level of damage caused.
- Cause of flooding.
- Presence of violations during the operation of the apartment.
- Signatures of all persons included in the commission.
What to do after receiving the act
To file a pre-trial claim and statement of claim, you will need to justify the amount of compensation. At trial a report from a private appraisal company will become a more significant argument than the calculations of the victim himself.
Please note: We recommend that you do not refuse to file a pre-trial claim. If due process is followed, you are also entitled to an additional 50% of the amount awarded by the court. According to Art. 13 clause 6 “On the protection of consumer rights”, an organization that refuses to fulfill the legal demands of citizens in pre-trial proceedings is subject to a fine in favor of the consumer.
To request a post-flood damage assessment, call Honest.
- If necessary, our specialists will advise on how best to act in your situation, and will also select convenient time for the appraiser to arrive.
- In three workers the day before the appraiser’s arrival, notify the management company about the upcoming inspection. Our managers will tell you how to write a telegram correctly.
- The inspection of the damaged premises itself takes on average 30 minutes: during this time, the specialist records the existing damage and takes photos that are attached to the report.
- A report is prepared within 5 days, which provides a detailed calculation of the damage. So, if a small area of wallpaper is damaged, the wallpaper in the room is completely re-glued. The report will also indicate the average market prices for the work of the construction team, as well as, for example, the costs of removing garbage after repairs.
- Receipts for damaged furniture or equipment will be a good help for a specialist. If there are no receipts, the report indicates average market prices.
- Please note that, as in the case of car damage, when calculating the amount of compensation after a flood, the concept also applies wear and tear.
- You can receive the report by visiting the office in person (in this case, the report is printed and stapled in front of you) or order a courier.
- The expert report is attached to the pre-trial claim of the management company, which indicates the requirement to reimburse the costs of the assessment. The company has 10 days to respond.
- If the Criminal Code does not respond or refuses, the report is attached to the statement of claim to the court.
Is the management organization to blame?
It is possible to speak unambiguously about the guilt of the Criminal Code in the following cases:
- The roof is leaking.
- The heating radiator is cracked.
- The sewer system is clogged.
- The neighbors' pipe broke to the shut-off valve (the valves that allow you to turn off the water to the apartment).
- You are flooded, but the neighbors above you are dry: most likely, the management company improperly monitored communications, which is why a pipe belonging to the common property of the house burst.
What to do if the culprit cannot be clearly identified? Call Honest. Each bay situation is unique, in this case it is impossible to give exact recommendations. Our specialists will understand your situation and tell you how best to act. Consultation is free.
Where to file a claim: to the management company or to the contractor?
If there is a flood, the claim should be made to the company that maintains the home. Some people do not differentiate between a management company and a contractor. In fact, these are completely different organizations. For example, the Directorate of the Single Customer (DEZ) does not receive rent from residents and does not sign an agreement with them. Therefore, it should not solve such problems.
The Management Company must bear responsibility for the violation. Of course, over the phone she can say that you need to contact the contractor and file a complaint against him. But in this case, the tenant will be given a refusal.
An application to the Criminal Code for compensation for damage when the apartment was flooded through her fault is drawn up in the name of the chief engineer of the company. When submitting it, it is important to make sure that the document was accepted by the organization’s office: your copy of the document bears the date and signature of the responsible person of the management company.
Conclusions
So, if the apartment is flooded due to the fault of the Management Company, the tenant has every right to compensation for damage. Don’t give up when the management company is in no hurry to fulfill its responsibilities. Proceed according to the instructions provided. In this case, you will receive full compensation not only for repairs, but also for other costs - services independent assessment and legal expenses.
To order an assessment of damage after a flood or get advice on controversial issues, call Honest. We will help.