Water Ingress caused damage from neighbor above

Dear Sir/Madam,

We have purchased a ground floor apartment on the Costa del Sol and have owned it now for a few months.
The rains started and upon returning to our apartment we discovered water coming through our ceiling to such an extent that the apartment is uninhabitable. Directly above our ceiling is a terrace of the neighbor above.

Our first port of call was talking to our insurance company who were very kind and helpful. They informed us that the insurance would cover the costs of the ceiling but they would not help us financially until the owner of the above apartment fixed the cause. The insurance company also told us that should the owner refuse then they would take the owner to court.
That is all well and good providing we can get in contact with the owner in the first place!

We spoke to the inhabitants of the apartment above and found they were renting from the owner through an agent (who is actually the developer - who still owns many apartments and not paying community fees - but that is another matter!), the renters have been very rude and refuse to help keep the terrace covered and give us any details of the owner or agent they are using for renting.

We then approached our Management Company and they said they would inform the owner and ask them to call us. 2 Months has passed with no contact from the owner above and times are getting desperate.

It has come to our attention that the terraces of each apartment are in-fact communal areas and therefore the responsibility of the Management Company, does this sound correct?

There is a slight twist, the owner has re-tiled his terrace once already due to it leaking in the past and now the Management Company know this they refuse to take responsibility for it as it has been altered. My point of view on this particular matter is that nevertheless the Management Company are still responsible for communal areas and therefore need to take this up with the owner for changing the tiles etc but still have a duty to fix all defects.

What we would like to know in addition to the communal area issue is what powers do we have and how can we progress in order to get a solution to the problem.

Any advice would be welcome.

We too have a similar problem and would welcome some advice. Our apartment was 2 years old when we purchased it and we have had problems with water coming into the apartment in the lounge, master bedroom and hallway. We were advised that this was a building fault and compensation has been awarded to make good the problems on the complex but to date the money has never been received.

There is a penthouse above us with a terrace and when it rains quite badly it leaks into our apartment. I know that this terrace has been taken up and resurfaced in the past but the problem still exists.

To date we have been re-painting over the ceiling each summer which hides the problem but it does keep coming back in the winter time.

Could you advise who we should be contacting to put this problem right.

Thank you

UPDATE:

We spoke to the management company today and explained that now due to the recent weather we are not able to sit around any longer and need some action.

When pressed on the issue of the terraces being communal the management company just replied with "There is no money to fix the terraces". What this means to me is that the management company IS responsible but due to the money status they want the Owner to repair the terrace.

The management company then called the owners in front of me and explained that we were at their office and needed to talk to them but they REFUSED to talk to us!!

TBH it was not until the boss of the management company had ran out of patience with the incompetence of the main desk operator dealing with our query that she took control.
The boss has instructed her staff to contact the owner and give them an order to contact us within 48 hours or they will pass on the owner contact details to our lawyers and Insurance Company.

After this 48 Hour period the Data Protection act can be sidestepped and we can start more direct and legal actions.

So 48 hours I shall wait, and see if we get called.... Until then I have my flippers and wetsuit on!

Dear PRob,

First of all, welcome to our forum.

The question that you are bringing up here is of complex resolution, as many facts must be taken into consideration, such as age of the building, insurance coverage, engineer evaluation, etc.

Usually, the first step is always to contact the insurance company as they will give you directions on how to proceed and who to contact in the first instance. The insurance company would be sending the expert engineer who would summarize and evaluate the damages to later on issue a report that indicates who is to be held responsible for the repairs. Normally, the builder has an insurance policy to cover these situations. However, upon denial of a reply from the developer and builder's side, the assistance of a solicitor is required to start any legal actions against them.

Please note that any advice give in this forum is provided based in the information that you facilitate and may be limited.

Best Regards,

Update & Advice:

Ok, contacted the Insurance company and they sent round a guy to inspect the damage and make an assessment of where the water is coming from and whom is at fault.

As we already knew the leak is coming from the upstairs terrace and the inspector agreed, now the next stage.

We receive the letter from our insurance and a copy of the report and we need to forward that onto the owner aboves insurance company. If the owner refuses to tell us or plays up (which is very possible) then we pass it onto our lawyer who can obtain the contact details from the Management company.

After this I am told that the two Insurance companies will sort it out between them and this (providing the owner is not a clown) should not take long. If there are any difficulties then we take the owner to court via our Insurance Company.

Hopefully this helps, I shall keep you informed from here.