I recieved an email recently from Greg who had a bit of an unusual problem:
I bought a converted flat around 3/4 years ago located on the top floor of the building and the place was and is in generally good order. In the last year my tenants of the Flat complained that they thought that they had an issue with Mice. After further inspection from me and the Landlords management company it was confirmed as Rats and the appropriate action was taken. The exterminator guy came round and filled various holes with wire mesh at the back of my Kitchen units where pipe work came into the building etc., put down poison and came back a couple more times to remove the dead ones and check round.
From this I thought no more until around 8 months ago when I had a persistent problem with my boiler and the pressure dropping, to the point where recently it would not work and it was quite evident that after servicing and new parts etc. there must be a large leak somewhere.
After around 3 hours of testing and searching, myself and plumber could hear the sound of water coming from under the floor.
We have now subsequently had to cut a large hole into my Lounge floor around 1.5m x 2m to get to where the heating water pipes are. Once we had done this we not only saw a large amount a water leaking, but found the fault. The pipe had been chewed through (see picture attached)
Obviously from this there is a requirement for cost of repair, cost of making the floor good and a new floor finish. My own Contents insurance will not cover this as they deem this to not be under the ‘contents’ umbrella and have advised me that this is down to the Landlords Buildings insurance and the Management company who run the development.
The management company for the development have basically come back to me to say that they will not cover any costs and that this is down to me to put right and to pay for. I understand that these are my pipes, but they are not located in an area which I own – floor void. The damaged has been caused by Rats, either earlier on in the year or more recently.
Any advice on this matter would be greatly received, as I do not believe that I should have to pay for this.
I have a nasty feeling that probably you are going to end up having to pay for this but what does everyone else think?
Do you have any suggestions to help Greg?
I get this regularly. In our area pest control will deal with rats for free but charge for mice and wasps.
Our environmental helath lads will always go out on a rat case as sometimes the cause of the rats is a burst sewer, which means that the source of rats is down to the people who maintain the sewer.
It has been explained to me, again by the EH bods (I have no personal expertise in this area)that if rats or mice can be proven to be entering through a structural (although difficult to prove)defect then it could be the responsibility of the landlord/freeholder. If not, then, as I was told quite bluntly, “Dem is your rats”!!!!!
Isn’t this what I pay the insurance company to worry about? Not my (financial) problem, but theirs?
Yeah Rex, I guess that would be the lot of the loss adjuster but this would be what they have to consider, source of the problem and all that.
The thing is, and again this is how it was explained to me, is that mice and rats can enter a property through tiny holes, how do you prove a defect to the premises that gives to the access?
Rats are associated with dirt and nobody wants to think of themselves as being rat-worthy.
I suppose it depends on where you live. For several years I lived on the edge of a country town, Taunton, we used to get rats in the back garden, field rats. Is that different from city rats attracted by piles of rubbish? I suppose, if they are chewing through your wiring who cares where they come from
Thanks for the advice. I have also contacted Environmental Health and the Council as the Management Company have offered no Pest control either and aside from the damage, I am unsure if the damage has been caused from a previous rat infestation or if this is a new and current problem.
I find it disgusting in this day and age where you pay insurance, maintinance charges and the like and no body seems prepared to take on responsibilties for anything!
Any further advice or names of people that could help me would be appreciated.
Greg
It must be very frustrating Greg, I agree, but some things just cant be solved like that.
In order to find out who is responsible you have to first identify the cause/source of the problem. And even if pest control could deterimne the probem and tackle it, sometimes pests come back.
Years ago my local council had a hell of a problem with coackroaches in a tower block that kept moving around inside the wall cavities and transferring throughout the tower. Nothing worked. Eventually they actually knocked 8 floors off of the tower, ripped off the outside walls and changed the whole construction of the building. Tenants had to be moved out and temporarily rehoused. It cost a fortune.
And I once had a woman with rates that were the result of a broken sewer under the house. Thames water dug up a massive area and rebuilt the sewer, 2 weeks later the rats were back and they had to do it all over again.
Hi, Thanks. Yes it is very frustrating. The E
The Enrironmental Health department have been very helpful toady and I should be receiving a visit from them shortly to look at the damage and assess to see if there is a live infestation of Rats, or if this is from the last incident. The Management company are still dragging there heels! I shall be ripping up further areas of flooring this weekend to see if there is more evidence of Rats.