Leak from the flat above: who is liable for the damage?

This is where most neighbour disputes founder. The fact that the water comes from the flat above does not make that neighbour liable. Dutch law has no strict liability between residents.

There are two routes by which they do have to pay. The first is fault: they left the tap running, they went out with the washing machine on, they drilled into a pipe. That falls under article 6:162, the tort provision.

The second is the defective structure of article 6:174. If the pipe was theirs and did not meet the standards you may expect of it, they are liable even without any blame attaching to them. A pipe that simply grew old usually falls outside this.

This feels counterintuitive but it is the fastest route. Your contents insurance covers water damage to your belongings regardless of who caused it. Your buildings insurance covers damage to the property itself if you are the owner.

The insurer pays out and then looks at whether they can recover. That is their job and they are better at it than you, because they have the files and the lawyers.

Meanwhile you do not have to sit with a wet floor for months waiting for someone to admit fault. And you keep the relationship with your neighbour intact, which is worth more in the long run than being proved right.

The leak itself is one thing, what the water ruins along the way is another. That second part is consequential damage, and it is usually where the argument stalls: repairing the pipe costs a few hundred euro, the laminate floor underneath a few thousand.

The split is less complicated than it looks. Everything that is yours and stands loose in the home falls under your contents insurance: flooring, furniture, appliances. Everything attached to the building falls under buildings insurance, and in an apartment block that is the owners' association collective policy.

Two things decide whether you get paid out, and both are about evidence. Photograph everything before you start drying or clearing up, and have the leak established by someone who writes a report. An insurer who only has your account will settle on your account, and that rarely turns out generous.

• Flooring, furniture and appliances: your contents insurance.
• Plastered ceilings, walls and fitted cupboards: buildings insurance, in a block the association's policy.
• Loss of value on your home: not insured, only recoverable where fault can be shown.
• Alternative accommodation while it dries: some contents policies cover it, check before you book.
• Your excess stays yours, even if the neighbour turns out to be liable.

The order below matters. Evidence disappears: water dries, stains fade, and an engineer repairing the pipe also removes the proof.

1. Shut off the mains if water keeps coming. In a flat this is often in the meter cupboard or by the water meter.
2. Switch off the power in the affected room if water is reaching a socket or a ceiling light.
3. Photograph everything before you clear up. The ceiling, the floor, your belongings, and where the water is coming from.
4. Ring your upstairs neighbour's bell and ask them to turn off the tap or the washing machine. Do this as a report, not as an accusation.
5. Report it to your own insurer the same day. Most policies require notification within a short period.
6. If you live in a flat, report it to the VvE as well, even if you think shared pipework is not involved.

The deed of division decides, and it differs per building. The main rule in most deeds: pipework serving more than one flat is communal, pipework beyond your own stopcock is yours.

A riser or a shaft is therefore almost always the VvE. The connection to your own washing machine almost never is. If it falls in between, read the deed rather than the leaflet.

The VvE holds buildings insurance covering the whole block. When in doubt it is always sensible to report it there too, even if it later turns out the pipe was yours.

• Riser, shaft, roof, facade: communal, so the VvE
• Pipework beyond your own tap or stopcock: private
• Floor coverings and fittings you installed: private
• In doubt: read the deed of division first, argue later

Tracing a leak is often more expensive than the repair itself, because the pipe is somewhere you cannot see. These are the guide prices we use.

Guide prices for 2026 including VAT. Call-out fees are often charged separately: €20 to €40 per visit.

Not every damp patch is a leak, and calling someone out for condensation is money wasted.

A damp patch that only appears in winter and moves with cold weather is usually condensation. A patch that grows while nobody is showering and no rain is falling is not.

• Patch unchanged over two dry days: probably old and already repaired
• Only after rain: it is the facade or the roof, not the neighbour
• Only after someone showers above you: it is the sealant or the shower waste
• Visibly growing by the hour: mains off and call immediately