Assessing damage after flooding an apartment: step-by-step instructions

Why do you need to conduct a flood inspection?

In accordance with Art. 1064, damage to property is compensated by the person responsible for causing it. Damage caused must be compensated either in kind, by restoring damaged items, or through material compensation for damage.

Before discussing ways to compensate for damage caused by flooding of a home, it is necessary to prove the fact of its occurrence. An examination of the flooding of the apartment will help with this, which should be carried out as quickly as possible after the incident.

The assessment results are the only thing that will not only confirm the fact of the flood and the amount of damage caused, but also help determine the value of the damage. Such evidence will be required both during pre-trial dispute resolution and during court proceedings in the event of the culprit’s refusal to voluntarily compensate for the damage.

An independent assessment of damage to the apartment after flooding will determine the exact cost of restoration work and new renovation of the premises. The resulting amount is the minimum that the culprit is obliged to compensate.

In addition, the injured party has the right to demand reimbursement of expenses for related activities:

• conducting an examination;
• hiring workers;
• legal expenses;
• moral damage.

To do this you will have to go to court. It is he who, based on the data from the flooding report and the results of the examination conducted by the appraiser, will identify the culprit of the incident and oblige him to pay compensation.

Since the amount of compensation is directly related to the results of the assessment, the examination must be not only independent, but also objective.

General rules for determining the cost of an apartment are published in the article “Evaluation and examination of real estate.”

Cost of damage

When going to court with a claim, you should take into account that Article 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation allows you to recover not only the costs of restoring property, but also receive compensation for moral suffering. However, in this case, a strong evidence base will be required - medical opinions on the causes of deterioration in health, testimony of witnesses, etc.

Moral damage

A flood belongs to that category of situations, as a result of which the injured party may demand compensation not only for property losses, but also for moral damage. However, the value expression of this parameter often remains at the discretion of the court. The complexity of such cases lies in identifying the cause-and-effect relationships between the flooding of the apartment and the deterioration of health.

Material damage

When compensating for material damage, they operate exclusively with documents:

• act of assessing the damage caused;
• contract for repair work with payment receipt;
• agreement for the provision of expert appraisal services with a receipt for payment;
• payment documents from retail outlets when purchasing consumables and new property to replace damaged items.

Damage assessment rules

The assessment of damage from the flooding of the apartment for the court is carried out by an independent expert appraiser. As Art. 4, only he, subject to the availability of a qualification certificate and compulsory insurance, has the right to give such conclusions.

As a rule, the services of an independent appraiser are resorted to in the event of neighbors’ refusal to voluntarily compensate for damage. But nothing prevents you from ordering an assessment, because even if the issue is resolved amicably, this will allow you to objectively determine the amount of damage.

The basis for assessing the scale of damage when an apartment is flooded, according to Art. 9 Federal Law No. 135, is a signed agreement between the customer and the contractor.

Please note that the amount of the specialist’s remuneration is specified in the contract. This amount must not be tied to the results of the assessment, otherwise the report will not be accepted as evidence.

The law allows experts to conduct assessments only in the areas specified in the qualification certificate.

When conducting assessment activities, the expert is obliged to act impartially and independently. The results obtained by him must be justified, and the sequence of determining the amount of damage must be described in detail.

If there are inaccuracies or controversial issues, the other party or even the judge may call the results of the report into question. And if at the time of the trial it is not possible to establish the damage in any other way, the court will refuse to satisfy the claims. Therefore, it is important to approach the choice of an appraiser with the utmost care.

How to challenge the damage assessment for an apartment flood

If the guilty party does not agree with the amount of compensation established by the court, he needs to:

• order a repeat examination to assess the damage from the flood (after first obtaining consent from the victim to inspect the home);
• get a new conclusion;
• file an appeal with the court, attaching a copy of the re-examination, which indicates a smaller amount of compensation.

The court decides on changing the amount of payment on the basis of the Bay Act, drawn up and signed by the employees of the management company.

If there is any doubt about the amount of compensation, the court appoints its own expert examination.

The conflict can also be resolved out of court. To do this, a re-assessment of the damage from the flood is carried out and if the parties agree with the result, the perpetrator pays a reduced amount of compensation.

It is mandatory to issue a receipt indicating that there are no claims on the part of the victim.

To appeal a decision to recover damages, you will need the following documents:

• a copy of the court order;
• a copy of the initial expert assessment;
• results of re-examination (original and copy);
• receipt of payment of state duty;
• title documents for the property;
• personal passport (original and copy).

It is important to consider that if the flood was caused by improper installation of utilities, the victim makes a claim for compensation for damage from flooding not to the management company, but to the neighbor. But the latter can, after payment, make a claim for compensation against the organization that installed the low-quality pipes.

Procedure for flooding an apartment

Calling an appraiser is an extremely important, but far from the only mandatory stage that the owner of a flooded apartment will have to go through in order to prove that he is right.

To receive a full refund, we recommend following the following procedure:

1. Find out the cause of the flooding and eliminate it. First of all, contact your neighbors and notify them of the situation. It is likely that the incident was not their fault, but as a result of a breakdown of the building’s utilities. If necessary, contact the Housing Office to shut off the water supply.
2. Involve the management organization. After the housing office accepts the application, an independent commission to assess damage from flooding of the apartment visits the apartment and draws up a flooding report, which records:
   fact of flooding;
3. information about the damaged property;
4. results of inspection of the apartment above;
5. probable causes of flooding. If neighbors are guilty, this should be reflected in the act. If problems are detected in the functioning of the engineering systems served by the housing office, the management office is recognized as the culprit.
6. Assess the damage caused. If you managed to reach an agreement with the culprit peacefully, it will probably be possible to agree on the amount of compensation. Article 15 of the Civil Code explains how to independently assess the damage caused by flooding of an apartment. Losses include not only the cost of damaged items and decoration, but also the cost of full repairs. Therefore, the amount of compensation should at least cover the costs of restoring the condition of the apartment before the flood. It is recommended that the consent of the culprit be formalized in a written agreement indicating the timing of payment of compensation/repairs and its amount.
7. Invite an appraiser. If the culprit refuses to compensate for the damage, take measures to document the extent of the damage. The culprit must be notified in writing that independent experts have been invited to assess the damage to the apartment - he has the right to be present during the inventory and recording of the damage, as well as to receive a copy of the assessment report. After receiving the results, re-offer to resolve the dispute. If refused, go to court.
8. Prepare documents and file a claim in court. The claim is filed at the place of residence of the neighbor - in the world court (for damages up to 50 thousand rubles) or district court. When filing a claim you should have with you:
   documents for the apartment;
9. Housing office act on flooding;
10. assessment report;
11. written evidence of notification of the culprit in the assessment;
12. receipt for payment of state duty.
13. Take part in the meeting and confirm your position. If the documents are prepared correctly, the court will definitely take the side of the victim. The objectivity of the assessment report will play a key role - if the court has doubts, it has the right to appoint an independent examination. After the decision comes into force, submit a writ of execution to the FSSP - the bailiffs will forcibly collect compensation from the neighbor.

Assessment procedure

Only a reputable and competent appraiser knows how to assess damage from flooding in an apartment and obtain objective results. You should contact an expert only after drawing up a flood report with representatives of the housing office.

The procedure for cooperation with an appraiser includes the following steps:

1. Calling an expert to your home, agreeing on conditions, concluding an agreement for an assessment.
2. Inspection, photo and video recording of damage, measurement of the damaged area.
3. Drawing up an inspection report.
4. Providing the appraiser with documents confirming the purchase and cost of the damaged equipment (if available).
5. Conducting an assessment, compiling a calculation of the damage caused, preparing an assessment report.
6. Transferring the report to the customer.

When searching for a specialist via the Internet, users come across the concept of “state independent examination of an apartment after the flood.” According to some authors, this is a type of assessment carried out by government experts.

In fact, the legislation on valuation activities does not contain such a concept at all. Activities can only be entrusted to private appraisers, including those hired by commercial appraisal companies.

What to do first after a flood?

In some situations, it is always obvious who is responsible for the flooding; the culprit may be:

• Neighbor upstairs;
• Managing organization.

When the upstairs neighbor is to blame, everything is much simpler, because usually flooding due to the neighbor’s fault occurs due to negligence, forgot to turn off the water, the hose on the washing machine burst, there was an accident in the bathroom, or a pipe could simply burst. With a pipe break, the situation is not always clear; both the management company and the homeowner may be to blame.

The fact is that the pipes that enter the apartment are delimited by area of ​​responsibility, there is a certain part of the pipe for which the management organization is responsible, and if a pipe break occurs in the area for which the management company is responsible for servicing, the culprit for the flooding in this case will be the management organization. If a break in the pipe entering the apartment occurred in an area for which the homeowner is responsible, the culprit for the flooding will be the homeowner, since he did not monitor the pipes in the apartment and did not carry out maintenance (repairs) on time, which led to the accident.

In any case, it is necessary to assess the damage and then it is necessary to present a claim demanding compensation for damage to the culprit of the flooding or the alleged culprit of the flooding.

First of all, after a flood, you need to inform your management company about the fact of the damage caused, in addition, management organizations are required to draw up a report on the damage (flooding). This report is drawn up absolutely free of charge; it is drawn up by a representative of the management organization, with whom you coordinate the time of arrival at your apartment to draw up a report and record the damage.

But you must understand that informing the management organization about flooding in your apartment is your responsibility, since the management company itself is not obliged to call you and ask if your apartment is flooded.

Contact the management company in writing and report the flooding that has occurred; also in writing, request the organization of a commission to arrive at your apartment by prior agreement on a time to draw up a report. The application to the management company is drawn up in two copies, hand over both copies to the authorized person in person, on your copy the receiving person must put the date of acceptance, as well as a signature and seal, keep the copy marked on for yourself.

By law, the management organization must send a commission to you to draw up a report within 12 hours of your application, but usually the commission arrives the next day after your application.

The commission will record the damage caused, but first of all it will undergo an inspection, during which a report will be drawn up, which will include all the damage resulting from the flooding. Carefully ensure that the commission members note all damages without exception, such as furniture, wallpaper, curtains, floors, ceilings, electronics and other things.

Usually the commission includes one or two representatives of the management organization, the alleged culprit of the flood and, of course, the victim.

What the act should contain:

1. Address of the affected property (apartment);
2. Date of drawing up the act;
3. Data of the parties, participants who were present when drawing up the act (the culprit, the victim, the representative of the management company);
4. Probable cause of flooding;
5. The alleged culprit of causing the damage;
6. A list of damaged property that must be included in the act.

Usually the act is drawn up in several copies, so that there is enough for each interested party; usually 3 copies of the act are drawn up, one for the culprit, one for the victim and one copy of the act for representatives of the management company.

Each copy of the act is signed by the parties and each party is given a sample act, which must contain the signatures of the parties and the date of preparation.

I advise you to carefully consider the preparation of such a document, follow our recommendations and be careful, if you have any comments during the preparation of the act, be sure to, before signing the act, indicate in the comments field the alleged shortcomings, or what you consider to be a violation during drawing up an act.

How to correctly draw up a flood report for an apartment?

What determines the amount of damage when assessing

When conducting an assessment, the expert is obliged to take into account all factors that in one way or another affect the amount of damage caused. The assessment of apartment repairs after the flood determines the amount of damage caused, taking into account:

• areas affected by flooding;
• the degree of flooding and the number of things that are subject to full or partial restoration;
• the cost of damaged property;
• the period that has passed since the last repair;
• the cost of previously performed repairs;
• the current cost of building materials and restoration work, and so on.

The cost of assessing damage from flooding of the apartment must also be paid by the guilty party.

If the apartment was used for commercial purposes, for example, rented out, the culprit is also obliged to pay the amount of lost profits - funds that the owner will not receive due to the impossibility of renting out the housing. Lost profits will occur until the housing is restored.

Recovery of damages

After a positive consideration of the issue in court and the verdict entering into legal force, the guilty party is obliged to compensate for losses:

• voluntarily - through the conclusion of an agreement;
• forcibly - according to a writ of execution from bailiffs.

Thus, assessing the damage after flooding an apartment makes it possible to identify the culprit and calculate the cost of losses. The report on the procedure performed becomes the decisive document in determining the amount of the claim or claim. The costs of its registration may be subsequently recovered from the guilty party.

What does the appraiser's report include?

In accordance with Art. 11 Federal Law No. 135, assessment report is a mandatory document containing the results of the appraiser’s work. The report must include:

• date of preparation and number, details of the contract between the customer and the contractor;
• information about the persons who carried out the assessment, indicating their contact details;
• the purpose of the assessment;
• a complete description of the object being assessed;
• standards, approaches and methods used when conducting assessment activities;
• the course of reasoning of the appraiser, the exact sequence of determining the amount of damage and its justification;
• the date on which the assessment was carried out;
• a list of documents and other sources that the appraiser used to substantiate the results;
• other relevant information.

To get a complete picture, we recommend looking at an example of a flood damage assessment report for an apartment.

Required documents

To assess the bay of an apartment, you will need the following documents:

• act on the bay - drawn up by the service organization;
• documents of title to the property - purchase and sale/exchange/donation agreement, certificate of inheritance, etc.;
• documents confirming the amount of damage - cash receipts, receipts (not mandatory, but help improve the accuracy of calculations);
• photos and videos of lost property confirm the fact of harm;
• documents for the property - cadastral, technical or floor plan or explication of an apartment building;
• valid customer passport.

Package of documents for assessment

Even though this is a formality, the owner will need to provide the appraiser with a package of documents on which the report will also be based. These usually include:

• certificate of ownership/extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate;
• identification;
• registration certificate for the apartment;
• a flood report signed by a commission from the housing office;
• checks, receipts, invoices, contracts and other documents that will confirm the original cost of the lost property;
• photographic and video evidence taken by the owner immediately after the flood was discovered.

Read more about the package of documents for different types of assessment in the material “What is needed when appraising an apartment.”

Where to go for a refund?

Compensation for losses takes place in two stages:

1. Pre-trial claim to the perpetrator of the flood. Sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt, enclosing copies of the certificate from the service organization, the assessment report and receipts for expenses incurred. The culprit has 10 days to begin a peaceful solution to the problem.
2. Trial. The claim is brought to the court office with the following appendix:
   title documents for the apartment;
3. technical passport for housing;
4. flood report;
5. assessment report and contract for expert services;
6. pre-trial claims;
7. documents confirming the costs of restoring the condition and property.

Claim for damages

Structure of a claim for damages:

• indication in the header: the full name of the court;
• personal data of the plaintiff and defendant;
• amount of claim.

Reimbursement Agreement

A settlement agreement on voluntary compensation for damages can be concluded at any stage of the proceedings. This document states:

• amount of monetary compensation;
• actual carrying out of repair work;
• the cost of each stage of reconstruction;
• payment procedure.

If the agreement is concluded as a result of litigation, then it must be approved by the court.

Cost of examination after flooding

Although many would like to know exactly how much an independent examination of an apartment costs after the flood, there is no single and universal price. The price range is determined by the pricing policies of companies and private appraisers. Each expert independently sets the cost of services, and the customer decides whether such conditions suit him.

The amount of remuneration, as a rule, also depends on:

• type of premises: residential, non-residential;
• flood area: the larger it is, the more expensive the assessment;
• extent of damage;
• number of units of damaged property;
• the region in which the appraiser works;
• qualifications and authority of the expert.

On average, the price of an independent assessment of damage from flooding of a premises is 3.5-5 thousand rubles for one room, 5-7 thousand rubles for 2-3 rooms. Specific prices should be clarified with the selected company or a private expert.

How to get money from a writ of execution?

- If you know in which bank your neighbors have an account, it can be a debit account, a deposit in the bank into which the neighbor receives a salary or another, then you can go to this bank, write an application for the transfer of funds to your account and attach a writ of execution, after some time you will receive the money.

— If you do not have information about the debtor’s accounts, then you will have to go to the bailiffs. They will do all the collection work. All you have to do is find out about the progress of enforcement proceedings.

Our flood lawyer can help you recover property damage from your neighbors.

You might be interested:

— How to correctly draw up a report on flooding an apartment?

— Compensation for damage from the management organization

— How to recover money for damage caused by flooding from an insurance company?

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