What is the name of your state? SC
I own a townhouse in coastal SC. The unit next door was recently purchased the the buyers started remodeling, including buying new appliances, which they installed themselves. On Dec 20th, I noticed that the carpet in my bedroom was discolored and wet, so I steamed cleaned it. I wasnt too concerned. Just thought someone had spilled something on it. During the rest of the week, I was not at home very much, xmas shopping, visiting mother in hospital, grocery shopping for father and of course work. The morning after Xmas I sat down at my computer the catch up on emails and saw water standing on top of my carpet in an apprx 5x8 area. When I stepped on the carpet the water covered my shoes. I began vacuuming water upwith my steam cleaner. After I had vacuumed about 10 gallons from the carpet, I called my cousin who was in town doing construction for a new restaurant. When he arrived, he pulled back my still soaked carpet thinking there might be a crack in my concrete slab (it had rained a lot recently). No cracks.
He checked the pipes upstairs in my attic. No leaks. He walked next door to ask man if he could check the water heater. No leaks. He then cut two holes in my wall to check for pipes. No pipes. Then I remembered seeing the Lowes truck delivering the appliances the week earlier, knowing that there was a dishwasher on the other side of my wall in the exact location where the water was entering my bedroom. My cousin walked again next door and asked if he could pull the bottom panel from the dishwasher. Bingo! There was the leak. The man immediately cut the supply off from under the sink. Cuz comes back over to give me the good/bad news. About 20 mins later, I walked next door to ask man to please come take a look at my damage and he was gone and did not return until about 8:30 that evening and I could hear banging noises , which I assume he was repairing the leak. So I decide I will pay a visit the next morning and have him look at the damage. At 6:30 the next morning I walked outside to get the newspaper and he was gone. I find his number and call him at 9:00 telling him I have a serious water problem that need to be taken care of. He has his wife call me to tell me that she is on her way (about hrs away).
The carpet in the affected area had become separated from the backing and the pad was coming up in pieces. My cousin had returned and cut the wet section out of the carpet and put it in a pile, which was still heavily soaked. She arrives about four hours later and comes over to inspect and tells me not to worry, that they will take care of it. I then go to work and post a notice on my business door that I would be closed that day and the next due to an emergency. I get a quote from the carpet people to replace the same carpet that was destroyed. My cousin suggests that I replace with tile, so I wouldnt have to deal with it again, at least with the floor. He and another man take all my furniture out, rip out the carpet and pad and put the heat and fans in the room to dry the floor. I purchase tile and the next day they lay it. I call my neighbors to tell them that I have an estimate to replace the carpet only and ask when they will be back in town. they inform me that they have contacted their insurance, and insurance will be contacting me. I get a call from insurance telling me they will not be responsible and I have to file my own claim. I call my carrier and they inform me that I can file a claim and they will take care of it, but being that it was an insignificant claim (apprx 1200), that it would put a ding on me and my already outrageous premiums would increase. So that was not an option. I call the SC Dept of INsurance and they inform me that HO3 insurance states that the other party is not resposible for damage in an adjoining unit unless the damage was caused by intent to do harm. I call my neighbors and tell them that we need to settle this among ourselves and he informs me that I would have been fine if he would have extracted the water and dehumidified. Keep in mind that the damage caused the carpet to separate and the padding was destroyed.
I am thinking of taking this to small claims, but have never been to court and dont know what to expect. Can someone please give me some guidance. Is it worth my time to do this? What are my chances of winning this case? Should I consult with a local attorney? All I wanted originally was the cost of replacing my old carpet. Now I am so mad that I want to include the two days I had to close my business and the cost of repairing the openings in my wall, and possibly having them do mold testing.
Sorry to be so long winded, but I wanted to present the whole story.What is the name of your state?
I own a townhouse in coastal SC. The unit next door was recently purchased the the buyers started remodeling, including buying new appliances, which they installed themselves. On Dec 20th, I noticed that the carpet in my bedroom was discolored and wet, so I steamed cleaned it. I wasnt too concerned. Just thought someone had spilled something on it. During the rest of the week, I was not at home very much, xmas shopping, visiting mother in hospital, grocery shopping for father and of course work. The morning after Xmas I sat down at my computer the catch up on emails and saw water standing on top of my carpet in an apprx 5x8 area. When I stepped on the carpet the water covered my shoes. I began vacuuming water upwith my steam cleaner. After I had vacuumed about 10 gallons from the carpet, I called my cousin who was in town doing construction for a new restaurant. When he arrived, he pulled back my still soaked carpet thinking there might be a crack in my concrete slab (it had rained a lot recently). No cracks.
He checked the pipes upstairs in my attic. No leaks. He walked next door to ask man if he could check the water heater. No leaks. He then cut two holes in my wall to check for pipes. No pipes. Then I remembered seeing the Lowes truck delivering the appliances the week earlier, knowing that there was a dishwasher on the other side of my wall in the exact location where the water was entering my bedroom. My cousin walked again next door and asked if he could pull the bottom panel from the dishwasher. Bingo! There was the leak. The man immediately cut the supply off from under the sink. Cuz comes back over to give me the good/bad news. About 20 mins later, I walked next door to ask man to please come take a look at my damage and he was gone and did not return until about 8:30 that evening and I could hear banging noises , which I assume he was repairing the leak. So I decide I will pay a visit the next morning and have him look at the damage. At 6:30 the next morning I walked outside to get the newspaper and he was gone. I find his number and call him at 9:00 telling him I have a serious water problem that need to be taken care of. He has his wife call me to tell me that she is on her way (about hrs away).
The carpet in the affected area had become separated from the backing and the pad was coming up in pieces. My cousin had returned and cut the wet section out of the carpet and put it in a pile, which was still heavily soaked. She arrives about four hours later and comes over to inspect and tells me not to worry, that they will take care of it. I then go to work and post a notice on my business door that I would be closed that day and the next due to an emergency. I get a quote from the carpet people to replace the same carpet that was destroyed. My cousin suggests that I replace with tile, so I wouldnt have to deal with it again, at least with the floor. He and another man take all my furniture out, rip out the carpet and pad and put the heat and fans in the room to dry the floor. I purchase tile and the next day they lay it. I call my neighbors to tell them that I have an estimate to replace the carpet only and ask when they will be back in town. they inform me that they have contacted their insurance, and insurance will be contacting me. I get a call from insurance telling me they will not be responsible and I have to file my own claim. I call my carrier and they inform me that I can file a claim and they will take care of it, but being that it was an insignificant claim (apprx 1200), that it would put a ding on me and my already outrageous premiums would increase. So that was not an option. I call the SC Dept of INsurance and they inform me that HO3 insurance states that the other party is not resposible for damage in an adjoining unit unless the damage was caused by intent to do harm. I call my neighbors and tell them that we need to settle this among ourselves and he informs me that I would have been fine if he would have extracted the water and dehumidified. Keep in mind that the damage caused the carpet to separate and the padding was destroyed.
I am thinking of taking this to small claims, but have never been to court and dont know what to expect. Can someone please give me some guidance. Is it worth my time to do this? What are my chances of winning this case? Should I consult with a local attorney? All I wanted originally was the cost of replacing my old carpet. Now I am so mad that I want to include the two days I had to close my business and the cost of repairing the openings in my wall, and possibly having them do mold testing.
Sorry to be so long winded, but I wanted to present the whole story.What is the name of your state?