Why You Should Not Repair Property Damage Before Preserving the Evidence
STOP FIXING YOUR PROPERTY.
Yep
You read correctly.
If your property has suffers serious damage, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is rush off to get it fixed.
Two reasons:
One is remedial works are complex and you need the right expert opinion to produce an SOW that actually works; and
Two, you may destroy some of the best evidence of what actually happened.
And when you later try to recover $50,000, $100,000 or more from an insurer, builder, plumber, neighbour, Owners Corporation or building professional, you can suddenly find yourself trying to prove what caused the damage after the evidence has disappeared.
That is a very different problem.
Now, to be clear:
I’m not saying don’t make your property safe.
Emergency works and reasonable steps to prevent further damage are often essential.
Mitigate your loss by all means
BUT there is a huge difference between:
“Stop the damage getting worse”
and
“Let’s completely rectify everything.”
Before permanent works commence, consider engaging a specialist recovery lawyer to arrange an expert to:
-
photograph the damage
-
obtaining the right expert investigation
And then you will be better positioned to:
-
pursue another party such as builder, plumber, neighbour or authority; and
-
obtain a proper scope and cost assessment
And most importantly:
Don’t assume the person who can fix the damage is the person who can tell you who should pay for it.
A builder can be excellent at fixing a wall.
That doesn’t necessarily make them an expert in causation. These are two totally different things.
A plumber can replace a leaking pipe.
That doesn’t necessarily establish whether the pipe caused all of the damage.
A forensic plumber is totally different to your local plumber. Sure they have the same initial training BUT their expertise and knowledge in knowing how to work with lawyers is totally different.
Plus an insurer’s assessor can inspect the property. That doesn’t necessarily mean their conclusion about liability is correct.
The evidence needs to be built properly from the beginning.
This is one of the reasons property damage law is different from simply “getting a builder to fix something”.
The repair isn’t easy but causation and legal recovery is even harder especially without the right advice.
I would be interested to hear from builders, insurers, loss adjusters, engineers and property owners:
How often do you see damage being repaired before the cause has actually been established?
In my experience it happens far more often than it should.
This article is a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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