Apartment flooding is on the rise, but residents still haven’t learned from their mistakes – they’ve identified the most common causes

Flooded four times

When he bought an apartment in Vilnius a few years ago, Ugnė did not expect it to be flooded several times. True, already at the time of purchase you noticed the carefully painted stains on the bedroom wall on the ceiling. The sellers of the apartment assured that they had been flooded by neighbors, but they fixed everything and the problems went away.

Unfortunately, after a while, Ugnė noticed that the water was flowing through the wall; He immediately ran around all the neighbors who lived upstairs and called the house manager. It turns out that the culprit of the flood lived two stories higher than the flooded apartment and did not address tongues, or even threaten an angry dog. When the plumber managed to knock on the door the next day, the perpetrators demonstratively showed the place clean as if there was no water at all.

“This time we applied to the insurance company, we received the benefit and we no longer turned our heads. But after a good year of returning from the trip, we again found watermarks on the wall and on the floor. Unfortunately, we were tired of recording this, because it seemed to us that we did not have sufficient evidence when the apartment was flooded, ”says the victim in a press release.

But the problems are not over. After seeing the wall that crashed again a few weeks ago, the family contacted the home manager and the insurance company. In addition, just a few days later, in the same week, the Fire Department was flooded again, which slightly increased the damage already recorded.

“Now we live with renovated walls and ceilings, but we are concerned about whether we will be happy with this repair for a long time,” Ugnė sighs.

The biggest problem is the worn pipes.

My Housing Emergency Service receives almost a thousand reports every month about clogged or broken pipes. Unfortunately, not all residents notice potential hazards early and apply only when a water supply accident occurs – the company recorded 1,024 home floods last year.

According to company representative Paulius Ugianskis, accidents in water supply pipes are a common phenomenon in old apartment buildings, but with the growth of real estate sales, construction defects are appearing more and more. Often times, home flooding also occurs in newly built homes.

“Usually in old apartment buildings, due to flooding, broken water supply pipes and various plumbing failures are to blame. Lime pipes are a particularly serious problem in Lithuania,” says P. Ugianskis.

“We encourage residents to pay attention to the pipes that are openly visible in the house, whether they are not broken or when the water is easily drained with plumbing; clogged pipes can also cause inconvenience,” comments the interlocutor.

He points out that floods generally occur when residents are not at home, so it is advisable to stop the water supply to all appliances and equipment before longer trips. Also, regularly inspect the flexible hoses used in sanitary facilities, the wear and tear of which often become the cause of flooding.

The number of cases is increasing slightly

Last year, the BTA insurance company received more than a thousand applications for water damage. Most of them are residential floods. That is 8 percent. more than in previous years: 2020 these cases were recorded at 1,022 in 2019. – 943. The increasing number of claims of this type was due in part to the increasing participation in the property insurance market of BTA residents.

Home floods are not divided into primary and recurrent, but insurance professionals recognize that recurring cases do occur.

“It usually happens when the problem is not substantially resolved. Plumbing failures are not handled, the crane, hose or other part that allows it is replaced, although it is obvious that after this work, the problem will recur. Some parts are changed and others remain the same ”, comments Andrius Žiukelis, Head of the Expert Department of the insurance company.

Floods are inconvenient and expensive to repair. For example, the lack of pipes affects not only the neighbors who live below, but also the owner of the apartment. Floors, ceilings and walls, as well as furniture, suffer the most during cleaning, and the walls must be dismantled, tiles and other finishing materials must be repaired.

Here is 2020 Due to the flooded home insurance, the company paid almost 659 thousand. the average damage was almost € 643. The largest insurance benefit, including 8,800 euros, was received in Molėtai d. sav. a resident whose home was flooded the entire first floor due to a broken pipe on the second floor.

However, this does not exceed the 2019 payment record, when almost 17 thousand people were assigned to the residents of Pagėgiai. Damage was assessed when the home’s underfloor heating was damaged due to a broken pipe.

“If you notice the apartment flooding, first of all you need to reduce the damage as much as possible: stop the flow of water, visit the neighbors and find out how much damage has been done.” It is important to inform the company that manages the house, as well as the insurance company if the house is insured ”, advises A. Žiukelis. If they are neighbors, the insurance will only compensate them if their civil liability is insured.