Damage from a burst hot water pipe.

[jroth]

Hi guys, this question is from the tenants point of view.
The property we are renting burst a hot water pipe in the roof in the kitchen after the extreme cold in Canberra this week. I came home from work to find a jet-stream of hot water coming from the kitchen roof, the house flooded and much of the electronics/furniture that wasn't on the ground was damaged/ruined from the steam and condensation.

My question is where do the responsibilities lie between the tenant/landlord. The real estate agent seems pretty adamant that it is our responsibility to make the claim for content insurance and its not their problem. We are insured and I'm fine with making the claim but am I in a place to have them pay the excess?

Also, the house has not been livable for the past 2 nights, the carpets are not being replaced for at least another 2 or 3 nights and I have no idea when they are going to fix up the kitchen. Are we in a situation that we can negotiate reduced rent until the house is made livable again?

Its a really frustrating situation because we made 3 maintenance requests during winter last year when the pipes kept freezing over due to the poor insulation of the hot water system - which is what caused it to burst this week.

When we rang up REI NSW for some advice they weren't any help.

Thanks for any input.

 

[Token Funder]

Claim on your insurance and don't forget to mention to them the maintenance requests etc. They may then choose to seek recovery of their loss from the property owner and will usually refund your excess if they are successful.

 

[handyandy]

Claim on your insurance and don't forget to mention to them the maintenance requests etc. They may then choose to seek recovery of their loss from the property owner and will usually refund your excess if they are successful.

Or conversely mention the same to the RE before making claim to make it clear that the LL should pay the excess.

Ala - "Well if the LL won't pay the excess then I will have to mention the outstanding maintenance request in my claim with my insurer. They will no doubt then come back to you (RE and LL) for a counter claim."

That should put the wind up them and if their smart will pay the excess - I would. But then I wouldn't have left the issue outstanding

Cheers

 

[NotAllPMsRBAD!]

you would definately have a case for rent reduction/compensation for the time in which you cannot live in the property