Just When You Think You've Done Everything

[marchie]

I have put up a couple of posts in response to the Draining Down Thread, and felt that I had done everything to protect Brunhilde, including today's check of the interior for condensation during the cold snap

Just after 5pm, we became aware of a terrific sound of pouring water in our flat, and initially thought it was a cloudburst beating on the Conservatory Roof. When the sound increased, we decided to investigate, The upstairs flat is empty and neither the owner nor the keyholder had bothered to leave the heating on ... The Mains Water Tank in the loft had burst, flooding the upstairs flat kitchen before repeating the exercise in our flat, via the ceiling we had replaced about 4 years ago. Keyholder was not at home, couldn't reach Scottish Water Emergency Number, so it was about an hour before we could get access to the property and begin searching for the stop cock. Our Dining Room carpet [all wool] was laid 21 months ago as the final part of the redecoration after the earlier ceiling replacement ...

At present we have no mains water because we cannot isolate the burst tank so have turned the mains supply off. The new ceiling is waiting to drop; the carpet is likely to shrink to buggery, the electrics will need to overhauled because sockets and lights have been doused, as has Elaine's Sewing Machine which sits in the alcove under the new ceiling to use the natural light, and everything is squelching. The Emergency Plumbers ['We Attend wuthin the hour'] say they have no staff and will be unable to visit until 3rd January ...

Knocked on the door of a local Heating Engineer who wasn't that interested, but said he will try to drop in tomorrow morning to see what can be done, so fingers crossed! Managed to contact the Flat Owner who is bloody clueless, so at 19:39 tonight, I phoned him back and told him that ringing his insurers 'tomorrow morning' wasn't acceptable, and he should phone the Emergency Claims Line and get contractors arranged. Heard nothing since ...

The consolation is that Brunhilde is outside, and if we have to live as though we were on a site, we can use the freshwater tank and decant water from neighbours via the M/Home water carriers, and we can use the lpg to cook and the 12v lighting, until the flat electrics can be dried out and checked

Merry Bloody Christmas one and all ...

Steve

 

[tonybvi]

That’s really bad luck, I hope you get sorted without too much delay. Burst pipes is my worst fear since a similar thing happened to us when we lived in Pathhead many years back. In this recent cold spell we’ve had the heating on all the time, even low overnight, and have cracked our loft hatches a few inches. Heating bill will be over the moon but better than having to pay for repairs.

 

[jagmanx]

OMG...That is really dreadful for you.
At least you have the motorhome ...otherwise emergency accommodation.
I assume 'im upstairs insurers will pick up the tab a nd more due to inconvenience
The repairs and replacements will all take time etc.
Keep cheerful !

 

[Christineboots]

I have put up a couple of posts in response to the Draining Down Thread, and felt that I had done everything to protect Brunhilde, including today's check of the interior for condensation during the cold snap

Just after 5pm, we became aware of a terrific sound of pouring water in our flat, and initially thought it was a cloudburst beating on the Conservatory Roof. When the sound increased, we decided to investigate, The upstairs flat is empty and neither the owner nor the keyholder had bothered to leave the heating on ... The Mains Water Tank in the loft had burst, flooding the upstairs flat kitchen before repeating the exercise in our flat, via the ceiling we had replaced about 4 years ago. Keyholder was not at home, couldn't reach Scottish Water Emergency Number, so it was about an hour before we could get access to the property and begin searching for the stop cock. Our Dining Room carpet [all wool] was laid 21 months ago as the final part of the redecoration after the earlier ceiling replacement ...

At present we have no mains water because we cannot isolate the burst tank so have turned the mains supply off. The new ceiling is waiting to drop; the carpet is likely to shrink to buggery, the electrics will need to overhauled because sockets and lights have been doused, as has Elaine's Sewing Machine which sits in the alcove under the new ceiling to use the natural light, and everything is squelching. The Emergency Plumbers ['We Attend wuthin the hour'] say they have no staff and will be unable to visit until 3rd January ...

Knocked on the door of a local Heating Engineer who wasn't that interested, but said he will try to drop in tomorrow morning to see what can be done, so fingers crossed! Managed to contact the Flat Owner who is bloody clueless, so at 19:39 tonight, I phoned him back and told him that ringing his insurers 'tomorrow morning' wasn't acceptable, and he should phone the Emergency Claims Line and get contractors arranged. Heard nothing since ...

The consolation is that Brunhilde is outside, and if we have to live as though we were on a site, we can use the freshwater tank and decant water from neighbours via the M/Home water carriers, and we can use the lpg to cook and the 12v lighting, until the flat electrics can be dried out and checked

Merry Bloody Christmas one and all ...

Steve

Omg, I feel for you. Do you have good friends or family to call on?
Same thing has happend to friends daughter in London yesterday! Flat above was sold in auction 4 days ago, they can’t contact the owner cause they don’t know who it is and no one wants to help her. She can’t get hold of someone to get water turned off. I know it doesn’t help you. If you’re stuck come visit us. Bless ya

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Terrible Steve, I'd be booking into a hotel if feasible, get new emergency clothes but if the van is the more convenient claim for extra LPG, plus wear and tear to it.

 

[marchie]

We still have no water [apart from what's oozing through the dining room carpet and underlay] but there is at least a Claim in progress. The upstairs flat owner was going to wait until this morning to report the damage, but I suggested he contact the 24 hr Claim Line asap ... The Insurers are run off their feet so the promised reurn call has yet to materialise, so I chased them 20 mins ago

Awaiting a return call to advise when plumbers can get to us. Annoying thing is, I found a local plumber who arrived at 0830 this morning but said he didn't want to get involved because the insurers wouldn't pay him! The Insurers said during my call to them just now 'if we can't get our plumbers out today, we'll authorise your plumber to do the repairs ...' The plumber's last words as he left at 0835 were, 'If not today, it won't be before Tuesday, probably Wednesday ...

Such are the challenges of life. The keyholder has cleared off to Edinburgh for a Concert and won't return until tomorrow. If I run out of water in the interim, I shall nip into her flat and restock the water buckets! Dining Room lights are still too damp to operate, but sockets OK so Florence Nightingale lamp route for after dark

One day, we shall look back on this and laugh. Not today, though. Final thought; we had hoped to be leaving for Spain on or about 3rd January ... Think this is now unlikely, because the drying out will still be underway. Such is life

Steve

 

[Pudsey Bear]

You're having to seriously suck it up lately Steve.

 

[TeamRienza]

Surely you should be able to move to a hotel and bill the neighbour (insurers)?

Davy

 

[jagmanx]

Hotel not ideal for many reasons. Use moho to be on hand...

 

[jagmanx]

Ps Try to get an email address from his insurers to authorise emergency spends.
Maybe a generator for moho

 

[marchie]

Surely you should be able to move to a hotel and bill the neighbour (insurers)?

Davy

2 further chaser calls to the Insurers Claims Centre who are co-ordinating the Repairs Contractors. They are run off their feet because of the volume of burst pipes claims and are struggling to get Repair Staff out. Firstly, hotel expenses are not overly generous and Xmas Rates will soon exhaust the Allowance; secondly, the nearest hotel is 5 miles away and I would have to leave the M/Home parked on the street during the last weekend of the Xmas piss up preparations; thirdly, the extras would need to be authorised and that drags Claims Handlers away from getting repairs done; fourthly, Elaine has a hospital operation on Tuesday, so I want to be available here beforehand IF the Contractors can start beforehand, even if it's just a plumber to repair the burst and restore Mains Water. Lastly, if the 'Drying out'/replastering/electrics checking becomes Phase 2 of the claim, the hotel expenses allowance may be better used at that juncture.

The Claims Handler I spoke to last did acknowledge the problems and has given me a direct link to the Repairs Authorisation Section [even though it is the neighbours insurers I am dealing with], and has said that for the Plumbing element, he will be flexible, allowing a billable overspend on the policy limit without authorisation to avoid my waiting in the Call Queue for up to an hour to get approval for any parts excess, 'because I know that the Plumber, especially if he is yours rather than our contractor, won't hang around while you get authorisation, when he could be working on another job'.

Visited the keyholder's flat next door and collected 40 litres of fresh water. so we can survive tonight, and then see what tomorrow brings. The anticipated holiday departure date of 3rd January'ish is looking unlikely, but the problems could have been a lot worse had we been away during the keyholder's absence and the burst had occurred

Steve

 

[CriftinsCampers]

Have you informed your own insurer? They may be willing to send a loss adjuster out to make an assessment.

Either way if things start to get difficult with the others insurer it may be sensible to have yours onboard and up to speed.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Not forgetting if you're not happy with the LA they use you can always appoint your own and the ins pays.

 

[marchie]

Have you informed your own insurer? They may be willing to send a loss adjuster out to make an assessment.

Either way if things start to get difficult with the others insurer it may be sensible to have yours onboard and up to speed.

Nothing to do with our insurer. The liability rests with another Party. The various 'Emergency Plumbers' are overwhelmed nationally, so starting with another 'Emergency Service' just adds more delay. Neighbours' insurers Rescue Service has just made [15 minutes ago] as a 'Priority Booking' for sometime on Thursday between 0900 and 1700. Wait times to reach the Central Contact Centre are a minimum of 1 hour and then you have to wait for a Call Back for the appointment. Today's efforts began around 10:00am today, and it was a few minutes short of 10 hours later that the Mains water Repair and Reconnection was made ...

As far as 'if things get difficult' are concerned, the upstairs neighbour pays via his insurer or from hos own resources; I don't care which. He has paid to book the CET Emergency Appointment already, so shouldn't be a problem, but if there is, it will be legal action straight away and I have some ammunition to use that will strengthen my case. I suspect he would not want the information to be disclosed.

Steve

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I hope it all goes smoothly for you Steve, and quickly.

 

[wildebus]

Hope you get it all sorted out. I wish I could suggest practical help, but nothing comes to mind. It is a blessing in the circumstance you have the Motorhome to decamp to.

 

[marchie]

I hope it all goes smoothly for you Steve, and quickly.

Fingers crossed, Kev, that the Plumber arrives and has the kit to make the repairs, because we will have been without mains water for 6 days, so laundry, including the array of towels we've been using trying to soak up the water in the carpet/underlay, and clothes washing becomes problematic. And Elaine's hospital operation on Tuesday is likely to put pressure on clothes washes. If there is a problem, the water reconnection will probably have to wait until after Xmas, so we will have to get hotel accommodation sorted out in those circumstances.

Tempted to say 'Shit Happens' but not whilst we've no effective method of cleaning up afterwards

Steve

 

[marchie]

Hope you get it all sorted out. I wish I could suggest practical help, but nothing comes to mind. It is a blessing in the circumstance you have the Motorhome to decamp to.

It is indeed, David. We've had problems with phone reception [as the 'Big Freeze Weather Forecast' did forewarn, so being able to use the M/Home to get a phone signal and still have somewhere to record conversations, dates/timings etc [all the details for citation if things do turn difficult] has been a godsend

If we're lucky, we may get mains water back on Thursday, and then it's just a matter of Loss Adjusters and electricians/plasterers/carpet fitters and the 'Dry Your Home After Flooding' contractors getting to work. There is a local Flooding Repair Contractor, who is a M/Homer and mate, so we may be able to speed up that phase of the work!

Steve

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Google Launderettes near you for the washing.

 

[trevskoda]

If it was me id be in his flat and freeze the inlet pipe, then cut and fit a 22mm stop valve, then turn you water back on, the other way is to hammer the pipe flat and crimp with mole grips, after all that id pull his ar-e hole over his head, and thats being nice.
I still dont understand how modern automatic heating should be turned off, the easy way is to turn the room stat down to about 5c if going away.