@ honeybee13 @unclebulgaria67 @stu007 @The GodMother Thank you all for replying back to me. I am not sure how to reply back to you all, as new to consumer action forum, hence this reply. Nevertheless, I really appreciate you all the information you have mentioned. It is very informative and the suggestions you have made are really helpful, especially with my mother being so vulnerable. I will look into all the suggestions you have made. Update on the the situation:- Things have escalated even more with Mr X and my mother has been very stressed out. At the moment, I am still in the process of looking for a solicitor. I have tried citizen advice and age care (who have taken a while to get back to me) to see if I can get solicitors for the elderly, unfortunately not for this type of situation. I have spoken to my mother's free legal advice team, they can only offer advice. They are not able to look through any documents or represent her. I am a bit unsure what to do next. I have contacted my mother's insurance company, only for legal advice. I am not sure whether I should be contacting them about a liability claim without having a solicitor first, as worried never hand to deal with insurers in this way before? Does anyone have any suggestions in what type of solicitor I would need to get? Many thanks, Tosca1

Thank you for replying back to me. I really appreciate you all the information you have mentioned. It is very informative and the suggestions you have made are really helpful, especially with my mother being so vulnerable. I will look into all the suggestions you have made. Thank you again

Hi, I am wondering if anyone might be able to help please? My 85 year old mother is involved in a financial dispute with the owner and their representative of the building she lives in, regarding payment for repair costs, which they claim my mother is 100% responsible for. We don’t know how legitimate this is. The dispute is over some water damage, which occurred a couple of years ago, to the flat directly underneath my mother’s flat (please see – Current Dispute Section below). Due to the complexity of the situation, I am confused as to who needs to pay for the repair costs (please see – My Question to Ask Section below) . To help understand the situation, I have included some background information:- · My mother lives in a in a big 4 storey Victorian building of multiple occupancy. The building is made up of: - My mother's maisonette flat (she owns the 100 year lease on it) and consists of the top 2 floors. 1st Floor residential Flat, (which the owner of the building’s brother lives in) A ground floor business premises, (which the owner’s brother runs his business from). The owner’s brother (who I will call Mr X) acts as her representative and manages the day to day running of the whole building. According to him, his sister does not want anything to do with the running of the building and all decisions are made by him. Current Dispute; - There is a small extension (roughly 8ft x 5ft) at the back of the main building, which is part of the ground floor business premises and Flat 1 (on the first floor). The extension does not extend past my mother’s maisonette flat. It’s roof is flat and felted. Over the top of the felt is decking, so you can walk on it. My mother’s kitchen back door opens directly onto the decking area. She uses this area as:- § A mini roof garden, which has some potted plants and hanging baskets. It is something she really enjoys and has been instrumental in her slow recovery following a stroke some time ago. § Access to maintain the gas and water pipes on the exterior walls of her flat. A couple of years ago, there was an issue with the flat roof. According to Mr X, my mother was 100% responsible. He claimed the gully running on the outer edge of the roof top (just beneath the edge of decking) had become blocked blocked for some time, with plant debris and soil, from my mother’s plants. Apparently, this caused water to overflow and penetrate down through the brick work into Flat 1’s kitchen. Last year, Mr X employed a builder to extensively refurbish Flat 1, which included scaffolding being erected, repointing of exterior brick work, new windows, installation installed, redesigning of flat layout and the felt roof was renewed. This work took well over 8 months to complete. As part of this work, Mr X demanded, (as my mother pays 50% of maintenance for the roof), she should pay the full cost to renew the decking and have wrought iron railings installed to the edge of the roof top, for health and safety. All totalling £2,500. This seemed to be a lot of money, considering the size of the area. At the time my mother and her partner were trying to dispute this, but sadly both had mental health issues (which we were unaware of) and extremely vulnerable. They were not able to find an independent builder, to give a quote for the necessary work to be carried out on flat 1. So we only have Mr X’s builder and structural surveyor’s say so as to what the cause of the damage was. We did ask for a copy of the reports, but did not receive any. Before the dispute could be resolved, my mother’s partner died last year. As this was an extremely difficult time, Mr X becoming increasingly demanding for payment and then the onset of covid/ lock down, as my mother was scared, she paid up. We thought that was the end of it, then last week Mr X sent my mother a quote (£7,000) for some more work to be carried out on Flat 1. Apparently, there is now dry rot in the kitchen. Mr X claims this is a knock on effect from the block gully a couple of years ago. Mr X is now arguing: - · This work cannot be carried out through the building’s commercial insurance company because the cause was down to her neglect. · He wants my mother’s independent home insurance details, so he can go through hers. I am suspecting Mr X has a hidden agenda, as the more questions I ask, the more defensive his behaviour is becoming. He is using bullying tactics to get what he wants, including nitt picking as to what my mother is doing/not doing, grilling her carer about my mother, aggressively talking to me. His behaviour is causing my mother, which in turn is having a detrimental impact on her health. Questions I would like to ask 1. Is it possible for this work to go through the building’s commercial insurance? Ø The owner is the policy holder Ø My mother pays 50% of the total annual cost of the policy Ø My mother’s name is in the business of interest section, which states insured against floods, water damage, etc. 2. If we must go through my mother’s independent home insurance, how does this work with Mr X and how will it affect my mother? 3. How do we know there were not any other contributing factors, regarding the clogging up of the swan neck gully, eg moss/sediment coming off the slate roofs from the surrounding properties (the building is in a street). 4. The possibility Mr X’s flat was not maintained properly? The quote, from the dry rot company stated, the were another 4 possibilities as to why it could have occurred, but they would not know until they started work. 5. I am wondering if there have been claims made against the commercial insurance policy, which my mother has paid for? Unfortunately, I am unable to access the policy as my mother is not down as a policy holder. 6. Is there anything legal that I can do for my mother? Any help with the above matter, would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hello, I would like to seek some advice please, regarding a Commercial Insurance Policy, which my elderly mother is paying towards, but is not the policy holder. As her power of attorney, I am trying to find out if there is a way I can talk to the insurance company, in order to clarify some concerns I have on how this particular insurance policy effects my mother. For example, as she owns outright her residential flat, why is she paying for a commercial/business insurance policy? I also would like to discuss with the insurance company, as to whether there have been any insurance claims made against this policy. Last year the flat beneath my mother's, who is owned by the policy holder, underwent extensive refurbishment works, including repair for water damage. This water damage allegedly had come from an outlet pipe, on the outside wall of my mother's flat. The policy holder is now asking my mother to pay for the cost of those repairs. I have tried to speak to the policy holder directly about my concerns regarding how the policy affects my mother , but they have refused to discuss with me anything to do with the policy, except to demand she pays for the repair costs and her contribution to the renewal of the insurance policy. I have contacted the insurance company directly to see if they could advise me. They said, as my mother is not the policy holder, their hands are tied. The only thing they could suggest was for me to write a letter voicing my concerns, to the policy holder. Given that I have already tried this, I would like to clarify my legal options going forward. To help with any advice you might be able to give me, i have written down some background information concerning my mother's situation, it is as follows :- My elderly mother (whom I am now power of attorney for), shares a building of multiple occupancy and consists of. My mother's flat, which is a massionette and consists of the top 2 floors. 1st Floor residential Flat. A ground floor business premises The set up is:- The ground floor business premises and first floor flat are owned by the same person (the policy holder of the insurance policy) Their relative lives in the first floor flat and that same relative runs a business from the ground floor premises. From my understanding, I think the owner is classed as owning the whole building apart from my mother's flat (which she owns). My mother has a 100 year lease on her flat and has to pay ground rent every year to the Policy holder (owner. There is shared access for both flat 1 and my mother's flat. This includes:- communal main door from the street into the building, a passage way running from the front door to back door leading to a back yard, a stair case leading to first floor flat. Then my mother then has her own flight of stairs leading to her flat. The Commercial insurance policy - set up by the policy holder(owner) of the building consists of:- A commercial/business one. My mother has to pay 50% of the total this insurance policy annual renewal costs and has done this for many years. The policy name holder - is the owner of the ground floor business premises and 1st floor residential flat . The only place where my mother's name is on the policy, is under a section called 'Business Interruption', under a sub heading called 'special interests'. My mother also pays her own home insurance (with a general home insurers) for her flat and contents. The owner is refusing to discuss the contents of the insurance policy with either my mother or myself. My main concerns are:- If my mother is not down as a policy holder, also my mother's flat is residential and she owns it, then why is she paying for 50% of the total cost of the commercial/business insurance policy renewal for the whole of the building and the other half is paid by the policy holder (the owner)? Flat one, is also residential, but the ground floor premises is a business? How does this work for a commercial insurance policy? What happens if there is an accident, in flat one and ground floor premises - how does this effect my mother if a claim on the insurance is made? What is my mother covered for with this policy - what about her flat contents. Does she need to be paying for her own general home insurance? My mother is down as a special interest, on the Business interruption sections, what does this mean? Has there been any insurance claims made against this particular policy? What happens if claims have been made for flat 1 or business and nothing to do with my mother, then the cost of the insurance goes up, where does she stand on this? Other concerns I have: The owner (policy holder) has been harassing and demanding both my mother and myself on other matters. Such as making allegations that she (my mother) leaves the main communal door unlocked all day. The door is only unlocked when my mother's career, District Nurse and cooked meals arrive, after that the door is locked. As well as this, the policy holder is also kicking my mother (who is in her late 80's) off flat one's flat roof, which she (my mother) has used as a small roof garden for over 40 years and is something that she loves as well as helped in her recovery of 2 strokes. Given the owner's defensive and demanding, as well as and harassing behaviour, I am suspecting a hidden agenda. My mother is vulnerable, as she lives on her own and is in her 80's. Her flat is very big and could be easily converted into 2 big flats. As the policy holder already owns the rest of the building, the addition of my mother's flat, would be very financially rewarding for them. I would appreciate any help you might be able to give me, regarding my legal position with this matter. Many thanks