Question- plumbing fiasco

[KOS]

I have a question. Friend of mine has a 60 year old house. They were remodeling a bathroom. THe general contractor gutted the bathroom (which is on the second floor). Directly below this bathroom is the kitchen. Since thehouse is very old, a plumber was called in to check and change any pipes from the bathroom. Plumber came and did this.. Once plumber left, massive amounts of water started leaking from the bathroom (same area where he was working) and flooded the kitchen area. THus resulted in ruining the entire kitchen ceiling. The GC, who was working on the project, states he was outside and came in and saw the water flowing.. Plumber was called and changed a pipe which he states was 'bent'. GC states he didnt touch anything.. (seems like plumber wants to push blame) . SHouldnt the plumber's insurance cover the damages? or must the homeowner use their homeowners insurance? plumber is trying to avoid paying anything- stating that , well, this is an old house, and this can happen with old pipes. Any advice you can offer would be very helpful. My friend feels that the plumber should have at least some responsibility as he was working on the pipes. Not fair for plumber to avoid all fault and leave with no $ responsibility. Thank you KOS

[marson]

you don't really say what the cause of the leak was, and what exactly the plumber did other than look at it. at any rate, i'd advise you to call your homeowner's insurance. insurance companies are very good at figuring out if there is another insurance company that should pay the claim (this is called subrogation).

[KOS]

[marson]

[Pat]

Did your friend hire the plumber of the general contractor? Was the plumber hired with a contract or by the hour? Did your friends lack of supervision add to the problem. Where do you live? A talk with a lawyer would probably be more fruitful then any answer you get here.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Paging Judge Wapner!

Did the plumber cause the problem? This is a simple yes or no situation. Just because the plumber worked in that room does not mean he was the cause. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. We need to see the cause of the leak.

The owner should contact his insurance agent and let them handle it. Take photos of the pipe that was leaking as well as what was worked on.

[hallerb]

call YOUR insurnce company let THEIR lawyers sort it out! They will send a investigator pay for damages and sue whoever they choose.

Honestly though when remodeling disasters are to be expected......

[trader4]

I agree. Plus, it should have been determined exactly what was leaking with photos taken BEFORE the plumber came back. I would not accept the explanation of the guy who could have caused the problem as to what went wrong. A "bent" pipe does not explain a massive leak.