How not to pay neighbors for flooding

Everyday living in apartment buildings can often fill the life of its owners with unpleasant surprises and surprises: quarrels with neighbors over electricity, repairs, noise and, of course, flooding.

In case of one-time or systematic flooding of apartments, the perpetrators should think about measures to prevent relapse in order to save money on their wallet and nerves.

In this article, we will just talk about the legal aspects of flooding the apartments of neighbors, about what obligations the person who caused the flood to the neighbors through his own fault bears.

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In life, there are situations when the property of citizens becomes the result of flooding by neighbors. Unfortunately, no one is immune from such situations; in such circumstances, citizens directly turn to their neighbors with claims.

However, when the actions of citizens cause flooding of the neighbors living under them, many questions arise, but what to do? What is the amount of damage caused? etc.

Immediately after causing damage, first of all, it is necessary to maintain self-control and try to eliminate the cause of the water leak as soon as possible.

Further, persons should immediately turn to their neighbors and try to calmly, without scandals, resolve the conflict. The most important circumstance will be the failure to bring the conflict to court, in view of saving money, time and nerves.

If citizens flood the dwellings of neighbors from below, they often have no idea what to do next. In such situations, it is necessary to develop a specific plan and a pattern of subsequent behavior.

As mentioned above, at the very beginning, it is necessary to eliminate the cause of the accident by shutting off the mechanism that creates the leak.

Then the amount of damage caused, as well as the amount of monetary compensation, is determined., which the perpetrator is obliged to pay to the victim.

In case of flooding, the perpetrator should find out the amount of damage caused as soon as possible and try to resolve the problem in a pre-trial order, in cases where he does not want to pay compensation - the judicial order is provided for 99%.

After this incident, many are puzzled by the question, should the culprit be personally present when drawing up an accident report?

In accordance with the law, to determine and fix the amount, a special commission is created, the composition of which is formed by representatives of the management company. According to the results of the damage assessment, the commission draws up an act.

Often, during the inspection of the flood, the culprit of the flood can also be invited, who has the right to make comments or disagreement with the decisions made by the commission in the act.

An interesting position is that the law does not even oblige the culprit to be present during the procedure for drawing up the act, at the same time, if he wants to get into the affected apartment, its owner has the right not to let the culprit.

Lawyers advise that the culprit of flooding someone else's property be present when the commission draws up the act. In this case, he will be able to assess the situation himself, independently draw up the approximate amount of material damage caused and the amount of monetary compensation.

The primary questions in flooding are: "What to do?" and “Who is responsible?”. There are cases when the owners of apartments located above the victims are guilty of flooding.

It must be borne in mind that the proper operation and good condition of the house are regulated by management companies, and if they are found guilty of flooding, they are responsible.

Consider the characteristics of responsibility and persons responsible in such situations:

• ZhEK or an operating company who are found guilty of damage to the roofs of buildings, which was the basis of the bays of the upper floors or damage to the structure of buildings, in particular walls. In addition, these organizations can be found guilty in emergencies associated with damage to main communications;
• The repair organization is found guilty for accidents that occur during repair work or improper work. In such cases, there is usually an incorrectly installed device that has become the basis of the leak;
• If the company that is the manufacturer of the equipment is the guilty party, it will be liable for damage due to the poor quality of the products (sanitary ware). It should be noted that it is quite difficult to find evidence of the involvement of this organization in causing harm. In this case, it is necessary to carry out an examination of the equipment with the help of specialists. This procedure is usually expensive.
• If the suppliers of electricity or heat supply are found guilty, they are liable for causing harm as a result of electrical voltage or water hammer.

It should be noted that the above list of persons responsible for causing harm is not exhaustive.

It should not be forgotten that persons themselves can carry out an assessment of the damage caused. According to the law, the amount of damage must be compensated by the guilty person in full.

However, some unscrupulous tenants, in the event of a flood in their apartment, aim at unjust enrichment and try to overestimate this amount, which, as a rule, will be used to repair the entire room or apartment.

Therefore, self-assessment of damage is the best way out of this situation. If the victim refuses such an assessment, independent experts who have the right to carry out these activities are invited.

It is also necessary to distinguish between the concepts of "restoration of the premises" and "renovation of the premises" in financial terms. Of course, it is better to resolve this situation in a pre-trial order.

In the opposite situation, the person will bear the costs of paying the fee, the services of a legal adviser, and assessing the damage to property.

Flooded the neighbors downstairs. How not to pay

In this case, it is not at all necessary to wait for the neighbors affected by the flood to file a lawsuit in court. You should always look for ways that lead to the possibility of consensus with the opposite side.

For example, a person may offer to repair the premises on their own, repair the damage caused, restore products, equipment damaged by flooding, etc.

Any agreement with neighbors must be recorded in writing, which in the future will save the parties from claims, demands to pay a larger amount of damage, etc.

Independent expertise

In the event that neighbors make unreasonable or excessive demands, the guilty party needs to inquire about the reasons from the presentations.

If the parties do not come to a common conclusion, an independent appraiser is appointed to assess the damage caused. Only his conclusion can be taken into account by the court as true.

If an assessment has not been made, any claim by the victims may be challenged. Neighbors cannot demand payment of damages by the guilty person until this examination is carried out. Moreover, it can be carried out after the persons apply to the court.

Going to court

Going to court is the right of neighbors, which is realized in the event that they could not reach an agreement with the culprit of the flood. When submitting an application, they are required to pay a state fee, the cost of which depends on the requirements of the claim.

The party that lost in the process is obliged to compensate it. When participating in a lawsuit, the parties should also not think about overstating their claims, since the court will most likely refuse to satisfy this requirement.

Civil law litigation in court is adversarial, which means that both parties have the right to present any evidence that can prove their case and improve their situation.

Acquainted with sample statement of claim in this legal dispute, you can, .

At the moment when the plaintiff proves that the claimed amount of recovery is appropriate and correct, the defendant proves that he was not guilty of flooding, requires a re-examination, etc.

The result of a repeated examination may differ significantly from the primary one, in this case, its conclusion may affect the adoption of a court decision.