I live in a ground floor flat in Scotland and due to a fault of upstairs there was a water leak which damaged my bedroom ceiling. I made a claim on my home insurance which is with Bank of Scotland. Unfortunately I had a large policy excess of £500, so I had to contribute £500 to the work done.

I was expecting to get this back since the incident was not my fault in any way. To my shock I was later told that because the cause of leak from upstairs was not negligence, my insurance provider will not be able to claim back the excess from the upstair person's insurance provider. I really was not expecting this and can't quite understand it. Surely I should not have to be out of pocket for non-fault claims, like is the case with car insurance policys? Appreciate any advice you can provide. What I'd like to know is whether there is a way for me to get back the £500 excess I paid or whether there is simply nothing I can do about it? Also the leaking has started again and they are not taking it seriously, what shall I do in this case?