The culprits for flooding an apartment can be either its owners themselves, or neighbors or repairmen of utility lines when they moved water or sewer pipes. There is a certain procedure for the proceedings, following which you can eliminate all problems as quickly as possible and resolve the issue of compensation for damage caused to property after flooding.
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But to do this, you need to know who is involved in assessing the damage, how the assessment procedure takes place, who should compensate for the damage in a particular situation, because circumstances can develop differently.
Who evaluates
In order to behave correctly when your apartment is flooded and resolve the issue of compensation for damage as quickly as possible, you need to know the sequence of your actions, which should be taken first.
The action algorithm in this case will be as follows:
- Call a specialist from the organization that services the house - TSE, TSN, Housing Office, TOS or some other organization.
- Calling an expert damage assessor.
- After this, all documents received, including reports after the damage assessment, are sent to the person responsible for the communal accident to cover the damage to the owner of the affected apartment.
It is necessary to call a specialist from the HOA or another organization that maintains the apartment building (apartment building) for the reason that in order to further resolve the case, you will need a paper confirming the fact that the apartment has been flooded.
This is exactly the kind of paper that an employee of the partnership draws up - an act of property damage due to flooding of the apartment. This report reflects the leaks themselves, the places where the water flowed, and briefly outlines the extent of the damage.
All damage to the property of the apartment should be assessed in detail by another specialist - an expert appraiser, who will not only identify damaged items, objects and elements of housing, but also set an approximate market value:
- new materials to replace damaged ones;
- spare parts for replacement of household appliances;
- repair work of broken equipment;
- services for the restoration of wall coverings, floors, ceilings - plaster, tiles, wallpaper, laminate and other things.
You should seek the services of an expert from a special organization of expert appraisers on housing issues. Because there are different experts who conduct, for example, auto examinations or others.
Not all such organizations employ appraisers who specialize in housing stock and monitor changes in market prices for repair services or the cost of building materials to restore flooding in an apartment.
After all, all these details are extremely important for the qualified and competent work of a specialist who assesses the damage, its magnitude and volume, in order to arrive at the final amount to eliminate the damage.
Note! Each expert who will conduct a damage assessment must have a valid license to conduct such types of services.
The organization in which he is a staff member can be either public or private - here it doesn’t really matter which appraiser should contact. But there are also lone experts who work privately and are registered in the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs as individual entrepreneurs.
What to do if your apartment is flooded is described in the article: apartment flooding. You can see reviews of apartment insurance against flooding for neighbors by following the link.
Advantages of this method
The agreement under consideration for compensation for damage by flooding an apartment is more profitable than filing a claim in court because it saves:
- The time it takes to consider an appeal to the court;
- Money for legal services, state fees, expert opinion.
It takes 2 months to consider a claim only in the first instance according to procedural legislation. There are also provisions for appeal and cassation, which is why the process can drag on for six months to a year or more.
The objection that all costs incurred will be passed on to the defendant is valid if the claim is successful. Otherwise, they will not be reimbursed. And the result of the consideration of the case is not obvious, especially when saving on legal services.
The law (clause 1 of Article 1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation) establishes that those responsible for causing damage to the property of another person are obliged to compensate it in full.
In addition, the financial situation of a neighbor who has flooded an apartment may be precarious. The court makes a decision, the writ of execution is sent to the Federal Bailiff Service, which will not be able to execute it if the culprit does not officially work, and his property includes old office equipment and furniture.
We suggest you read: Who signs contracts?
How does the assessment work?
Upon arrival at the scene of an apartment disaster, the expert inspects all the damage and draws up a report that will reflect the amount of all damage, as well as the amount of money to restore the damage.
All prices for calculations are taken by the appraiser based on market rates that are current on the date of the flooding.
The cost of building materials, apartment renovation services, household equipment, spare parts for repairing household appliances is constantly changing. The market is dynamic in terms of price jumps and can show different levels annually and even quarterly.
In general, we can highlight the main stages of the work of an expert appraiser:
- Calling a specialist from the housing management company is mandatory.
- The specialist draws up a report in 2 copies on the existence of the fact of the “flood”.
- The owner of the apartment must officially invite in writing the person responsible for the flooding at the same time as the appraiser is scheduled to arrive.
- Upon arrival at the site, the appraiser is required to show his license, and the apartment owner is required to check the license for its validity.
- Inspection of damage, damage to the property of the apartment, objects of the apartment itself as a result of flooding.
- The appraiser also photographs all damage, measures it, and records it in a special document.
- Calculating the cost of repairs and finding prices for new parts, elements, materials to replace damaged ones. Usually this stage is longer; the law allows a period of no longer than 7 days for such a procedure.
- Drawing up an act with attached details and calculation of the cost of damage, which also highlights the total amount of damage.
- One copy of the act is given to the injured party, the second to the culprit, and the third remains with the expert.
Note! To invite the culprit of the accident to conduct an examination, it is enough to send him a letter with notification of receipt by regular mail, which will indicate the day and time when he should appear at the scene of the accident.
The act that is drawn up by the HOA specialist (or any other institution managing the house) must be signed:
- home owners;
- 2 witnesses;
- by the specialist of the home maintenance company himself.
One copy of the completed act is given to the injured party, and the second is sent to the management company for storage.
Note! If you use the services of an expert who does not have a permit to carry out this type of activity, or whose license is expired, then his inspection reports will not have legal force.
This means that in court all the papers that he compiled will not be considered evidence; the court simply will not rely on them when making a decision in favor of the apartment owner.
Is it possible to do it yourself
It would be impractical to conduct the assessment yourself. After all, you will not have any supporting documents in your hands where you have calculated the amount of damage.
But in order to prove in court not only the guilt of the defendant, but also the correctness of the calculated amount and its compliance with market parameters on the date of the incident, documents are needed from specialists who can confirm all this.
An expert assessment is necessary in the following cases when an apartment flood occurs:
- due to oversight and poor quality maintenance of the operational service;
- due to roof failure;
- negligence of neighbors living upstairs, directly above the damaged apartment;
- The owner himself is the culprit of the flooding, but in his opinion, the amount of damage is too great to independently eliminate all the consequences of the accident.
You should also not independently repair the damage caused by those responsible for flooding your apartment. Especially if you are expecting the arrival of an expert appraiser. If you cleaned up the leaks yourself, then the appraiser will have nothing to evaluate in order to calculate the amount of damages.
You can independently calculate the damage and eliminate traces of the “flood” when the owner has peacefully agreed on everything with the culprit and has already received the appropriate amount of money as compensation.
Note! In case of independent calculations of damage, the culprit should be presented with checks, sales receipts, invoices, receipts, and other payment documents reflecting the expenses that the owner of the apartment incurred during its repairs.
There may also be receipts or other documents for household appliances damaged as a result of the flood, and so on.
But then there is no need to call an appraiser; it is enough to call only a specialist from the company managing the residential building so that the fact of flooding of the apartment is recorded.
An expert appraiser is needed only when it is planned to resolve the issue of compensation for damage through a court, or the apartment is insured and you need to obtain insurance for damage.
Also, his services will be required when there are disputes between the parties to the incident - the victim and the culprit, or the victim and the HOA organization, or the culprit and the HOA organization.
Note! The culprit, and not just the injured apartment owner, can also call an expert appraiser to inspect the damage.
Specifics of flooding cases
Its outcome depends on the results of the expert assessment.
You can receive it only after completing the act of filling. Carrying out this work is not an easy service; certain requirements are imposed on the appraiser and the equipment he uses (licensed software, certified laser range finder, level, etc.). A competent defense of the culprit of the flood is based on the arguments that the expert assessment was carried out incorrectly, the individual or legal entity did not have the appropriate license and certified equipment.
It may take several weeks or a month before a specialist begins examining the damaged property. If only one assessment result is received, the court makes a decision based on its conclusions.
If there are two assessments that are included in a case of flooding of an apartment - from the plaintiff and from the defendant - all the specialists who conducted the examination are called to the court to testify. Each of them indicates:
- Reasons why each property is included in the assessment.
- How is the damage assessed for each item?
After listening to the testimony of each expert, the court leans towards the one whose arguments looked more convincing. It is the result of his assessment that will influence the decision.
If the call of two specialists and their testimony did not tilt the court in one direction or the other, the arguments sounded unconvincing, a forensic examination is ordered. The decision is made based on the results of this conclusion.
The document allows you to resolve a conflict between neighbors pre-trial or in court, without waiting for a decision. It has several purposes, namely:
- Saves time and nerves on lengthy proceedings;
- Allows neighbors to independently come to a common denominator;
- Maintains good relations between parties to the incident.
Respectable neighbors, as a rule, independently cooperate. This applies to both sides. If the culprit understands that because of him, damage has been caused to the residents below, the latter should not take the opportunity to twist the neighbor’s arms in order to make long-planned repairs at his expense.
It is easy to draw up an agreement on compensation for damage caused by flooding of an apartment for the following reasons:
- Does not require strict form.
- Compiled randomly.
- Notarization is not required.
Basic information that an agreement on compensation for damage due to flooding of an apartment should contain:
- The fact itself is the date, time and place, the essence of what happened.
- Detailed list of damaged property.
- The amount of damage caused for each damaged item.
- Date of document preparation and signature.
It is recommended that a detailed list be drawn up separately as an appendix to the concluded agreement. Damaged property is indicated in detail with a detailed description of the extent of damage.
Additionally, it is recommended to keep a video recording of the damage caused. At the same time, the owner or the person filming, another person must comment on the image.
When filming video, there is no need to be overly theatrical. Judges do not welcome it when a meeting turns into a theater or a circus. The main requirements for a video are dry and clear facts, completeness of description.
The main goal pursued by the document and all additions to it is to determine the amount of the culprit’s obligations to the injured party. It is recommended to indicate in writing the period after which the damage will be compensated.
How is it calculated
The damage is always calculated by an expert appraiser or a forensic expert; it is not recommended to carry out an independent calculation if you are going to go to court and file a claim against the culprit.
For calculations, of course, receipts, sales receipts and other documents that confirm that the owner of the apartment purchased this or that property damaged by flooding will be useful.
But people do not always save receipts, not all property has payment documents, and so on. For example, if part of the plaster, which was already applied by developers to the wall at the time of purchase of the apartment, was damaged, then the market prices of the finishing material and the labor intensity of the work required to apply it will have to be raised.
The procedure is quite lengthy; the experts themselves take at least 5-7 days. Therefore, independent calculation will lead to errors, oversights, or excess of any details.
Who reimburses
If the party responsible for flooding the apartment does not object to compensation for the damage caused, then the amount of damage withdrawn by the appraiser is sent to the account of the apartment owner.
If there are objections or refusal to pay compensation, the owner of the damaged apartment has every right to sue the culprit.
Even when the culprit agrees to pay, but is not ready for such expenses, the owner of the flooded home also has the right to file a lawsuit demanding compensation for material damage.
Attached to the claim is a package of documents that were drawn up by TSJD specialists and an expert appraiser. These documents serve as confirmation of the fact of flooding and have sufficient, reasonable information about the amount of compensation for damage.
What to do if your apartment is flooded
When flooding an apartment, it is necessary to draw up an expert opinion on the damage received. To do this, you should contact specialists who will conduct an independent examination when filling the apartment. These services are provided by dozens of agencies, but our clients can count on the following benefits.
- We will draw up a legally competent act that will be suitable for assessing damage from flooding of an apartment in court. The document will be valid in courts of all instances for six months.
- We provide services for clients from any region. You can contact us if you are in Moscow, the region or any other city in the Russian Federation.
- You can count on our assistance in court: we are ready to support the client at any stage of the proceedings.
Don’t delay assessing the damage after your apartment has been flooded: if your property is damaged, call an expert immediately. First, fix all the damage yourself: stains on the ceiling, peeling wallpaper or cracked paint, swollen flooring. It is also important not to touch anything or remove traces of the flood until the examination!
Moral
In addition to material damage, it is also possible to compensate for moral damage if, during the proceedings, insults against the victim were recorded from the culprit.
To do this, the lawsuit must be accompanied by some documentary evidence, evidence of a case of moral damage.
This could be eyewitness testimony, photo or video recording of the scandal, and so on. Compensation for moral damage is calculated and issued as an invoice for payment by the culprit, the judicial authority.
You can file a claim for such compensation at the same time as filing a claim for financial compensation for damage.
Compensation for damage in case of flooding of an apartment
Direct compensation for damage after water has entered the apartment and created a flood causing damage to property can occur through the following institutions:
- court;
- Insurance Company.
In the first case, they turn to the judicial authority when the apartment is not insured for the risk of flooding by neighbors.
In the second case, if you have an insurance policy that includes a risk similar to the incident.
In order to freely receive compensation for damage after flooding of an apartment, it is necessary to obtain documented confirmation of the following circumstances:
- date of flooding and time;
- cause;
- culprit;
- a list of property damaged as a result of flooding;
- amount of damage.
It is these details that the insurance company pays attention to, if the apartment is insured, or the court.
Due to the fault of the residents
When it turns out that the apartment was flooded by its residents themselves, then the damage can only be compensated after an inspection by an expert, an assessment and a court review of the income and expenses of the residents themselves.
In this situation, it is extremely important to find out whether the tenants really cannot pay for the repairs and restoration of their property and will need some financial assistance.
In case of a satisfactory outcome of the case, according to the court decision, the owner of the apartment will receive the amount of compensation at his own expense from the state budget.
But this rarely happens; most often people try to insure their apartments, so they receive compensation directly from the insurance company.
Due to the fault of the management company
The cause of flooding may be the unscrupulous fulfillment of its obligations to residents by the company itself that manages the housing stock. For example, if the roofs of houses were not repaired on time, then flooding of the upper apartments is inevitable.
When the management company is to blame for the flooding of an apartment, then it is necessary, first of all, to request an inspection report from it because in this case such companies often like to delay the preparation of the report or issuing it to the owner of the affected property. To draw up an act, a separate commission is needed, which will carry out its own check and create this document.
What will be included in the damage assessment?
We understand that our clients who are forced to seek expert assistance in assessing damage may have limited budgets. That is why our company offers an affordable cost of an independent examination after the apartment has been poured.
All prices for our services are indicated in the corresponding section on the website. Tariffing is based on the number of rooms, as well as the range of work you have chosen (appraiser visit, preparation of documentation for the court, assistance at all stages of paperwork).
As a result, you will receive an act that will take into account:
- costs for the purchase of building materials, damaged furniture and equipment;
- delivery costs for large purchases;
- payment for the services of hired workers hired for repairs;
- post-flood cleanup costs.
Thus, an expert assessment of damage caused by flooding of an apartment will reflect the real situation and will allow you to receive full compensation for high-quality repairs and replacement of furniture.
In order for us to assess the damage, you will need to provide title documents, a passport and papers from the BTI. Having receipts or invoices that reflect the true value of damaged furniture and appliances will be a big advantage.
Arbitrage practice
If a judicial procedure is required, then all claims, lawsuits, etc. are filed on the basis of the Civil and Housing Codes of the Russian Federation. Government Decree No. 491 and Federal Law No. 135-FZ also play an important role, which regulates the activities of expert appraisers.
When filing a claim, be sure to have the results of the examination in hand, where the market value of the damage is indicated.
Often, the practice of court decisions in such cases always stands on the side of citizens, apartment owners who suffered a flooding incident.
Apartment flooding is a serious problem that can affect neighboring properties belonging to other neighbors. First of all, it is extremely important to first establish the cause of the flooding and identify the culprit.
Then contact the culprit himself with a demand to compensate for the damage. If it is not possible to reach an agreement peacefully, then it only makes sense to go to court with a claim to force the recovery of damages from the culprit.
To file a lawsuit, you must attach to the claim an act from the HOA (or other housing organization), as well as an expert assessment report, where the amount of damage has already been correctly calculated.
How to draw up a report on the flooding of an apartment, read the article: report on the flooding of an apartment. Utilities for legal entities are discussed here.
Find out the pros and cons of HOAs in this article.
