Burst Water Main

[Ian Hemmings]

Hi All

I am a tenant and the main water pipe into the property burst and its underground and I only noticed it while gardening I would like to know whose responsibility is it to pay the excess water, is it for the tenant or for the landlord, I would prefer only answers that are legal and not assumptions. Thanks Ian

[Justloadit]

I would prefer only answers that are legal and not assumptions

You should contact a lawyer directly.

[Blurock]

Water leaks can be a serious cost not always fully covered by the insurance companies. That is why you need an AUS-iot monitor. (See my blog)

It appears as if you are living in a complex with HOA or BC?
The principle is that everything outside your unit is Body Corp and everything inside your unit is house owners insurance.
The BC or HOA should claim from their insurance and not the tenant.

[AndyD]

I think you can fill out a form at the council offices to request a refund for the excess amount. I know someone who did this a couple of years ago and their refund request was sucessful, they just got charged a monthly average amount for the month of the water leak. I think they needed to submit a plumbers letter or invoice as well with their request.

[Dave A]

I know the answer for Ethekwini - there's a water loss insurance levy on your water bill by default. All sorts of fine print, of course. But it does cover the excess water consumption if the leak is discovered and dealt with timeously.

No idea for Cape Town, but Andy is Cape Town based. So his post above seems relevant to you.

[Blurock]

I know the answer for Ethekwini - there's a water loss insurance levy on your water bill by default. All sorts of fine print, of course. But it does cover the excess water consumption if the leak is discovered and dealt with timeously.

No idea for Cape Town, but Andy is Cape Town based. So his post above seems relevant to you.

Ethekweni's water loss insurance is a useless ripoff! I had a water loss which left me with an account of R6000 of which Ethekwini's insurance only paid a round R1000. No use arguing about it they are just too clever. Total cost of replacing the burst pipe R16 k, which was covered by our HO insurance. I now have my AUS-iot Monitor installed and they will never catch me like this again.

[Blurock]

When an estate or Body Corporate have a leak in their system it can cost them a fortune. A couple of years ago an estate manager in Ballito told me they had a water loss which cost them more than R1 million!

We have installed AUS-iot monitors in a complex in Cape Town and were fortunate to be able to assist in them detecting the loss in their main feed. You can do your own calculation...