AC Installation Damage: What to Do When the Service Company Denies Liability

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Picture this. You buy a 1.5 ton split AC for Rs 42,000. The brand's authorised technician comes to install it. While drilling for the copper piping, he cuts through a concealed water line. Within two days the wall is soaked, the paint bubbles, and a wardrobe is ruined. Repair estimate: Rs 18,400. The technician says “house wiring and pipes are your risk”. The brand's call centre says “talk to the installation partner”. Everyone points at someone else.

Here is the answer. Installation done by a brand-authorised technician is a paid service under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. Damage caused by careless workmanship is a deficiency in service, and the company that took your money cannot simply disown it. Your job is to fix who took the payment, prove the damage with dated photos and an independent repair estimate, demand compensation in writing, and escalate to the National Consumer Helpline (1915) and then e-Daakhil if the denial continues.

Liability follows the money and the engagement, not the uniform the technician wore.

• Brand-arranged installation. You booked installation through the brand or it came bundled with the purchase. The brand and its authorised service partner are jointly answerable. Write to both.
• Marketplace or app booking. You booked the installer through a services app or an online marketplace. The platform that charged you is the service provider on record. Complain to the platform first, not the brand.
• Local independent installer. You hired a local technician directly and paid him in cash. Your claim is against him personally. This is the weakest position, which is why a GST invoice or app booking matters.

One more trap. Many brands say unauthorised installation voids the warranty. So if the brand's own authorised installer caused the damage, say that clearly in your complaint. The company cannot claim the benefit of “authorised installation” for warranty purposes and deny responsibility for the same technician's negligence.

• Dated photos and a short video of the damage, taken before you repair anything.
• The installation job sheet, booking confirmation, or app receipt with the technician's name.
• Invoice for the AC and any separate installation charge.
• An independent written repair estimate from a plumber, electrician, or carpenter on a bill or letterhead.
• Your written complaint and every reply, with dates.
• If a neighbour's flat was also damaged, their written note and photos.

1. Written complaint by email to the brand's customer care and the installation partner, with photos and the estimate attached. Ask for a written response with a timeline.
2. The brand's nodal or grievance officer, listed on its website. Quote your first complaint number.
3. National Consumer Helpline: call 1915 or register at consumerhelpline.gov.in. NCH takes up the docket with the company through its convergence programme.
4. Consumer commission: file online at e-Daakhil. Claims up to Rs 50 lakh go to the District Commission. You can claim repair cost, the damaged furniture, and reasonable compensation for harassment.

To: Customer Care and Nodal Officer, [Brand name]
Copy to: [Installation partner / platform]

Subject: Damage caused during AC installation on [date], job sheet [number], demand for compensation

On [date], your authorised technician [name, if known] installed a [model] AC at my address under job sheet [number]. During drilling, he damaged [concealed water pipe / wiring / wall], causing [describe damage].

I attach dated photographs, the job sheet, the purchase invoice, and an independent repair estimate of Rs [amount].

I request payment of Rs [amount] towards repair and damaged articles within 15 days, or a written explanation of why the claim is denied. If I do not receive either, I will register the matter with the National Consumer Helpline and file before the District Consumer Commission.

[Name, address, mobile, email, date]

Two policies may respond even while the company stalls. First, if you hold a home or householder package policy, accidental water damage to the structure and contents is often covered. Inform the insurer within the policy's notice period and let their surveyor record the cause as installer negligence; the insurer can later recover from the company. Second, reputed service platforms carry insurance or a damage-cover promise for work done through their app. Ask the platform in writing whether the booking was covered and how to claim. A successful insurance claim does not erase your consumer complaint for the uninsured loss and the harassment.

A Pune flat owner had a brand-authorised installer cut a concealed pipe in March 2026. Loss: Rs 14,200 wall repair and repainting, Rs 6,500 wardrobe base replacement, total Rs 20,700. The brand offered Rs 3,000 as a “goodwill gesture”. She emailed the nodal officer with photos and two estimates, then registered an NCH docket. The company raised its offer to Rs 12,000. She filed on e-Daakhil claiming Rs 20,700 plus Rs 15,000 for harassment. The matter settled before the first hearing at Rs 19,000. Total cost to her: Rs 0 court fee (claims up to Rs 5 lakh are free on e-Daakhil) and three months of patience.

The AC brand, the installer, and service platforms are private companies. The RTI Act does not apply to them, so do not waste an application there. RTI helps only at the edges: for example, if your housing society's water line was damaged and the municipal body inspected it, you can ask that body for the inspection report. If you do use RTI, read how to file RTI online and why RTI gets rejected first.

No. A printed disclaimer does not protect a service provider from its own negligence. Consumer commissions routinely treat such terms as unfair. Keep a copy of what you signed and mention it in your complaint.

Name both. The brand engaged the franchisee and collected or directed your payment, so it cannot escape by pointing to its own partner. e-Daakhil allows multiple opposite parties in one complaint.

You may hold back payment for work that caused damage, but say so in writing with reasons. A silent non-payment lets the company paint you as the defaulter.

Two years from the date of the damage. Do not sit on it. The written complaint trail you build in the first month decides the case.

No, but you need a plumber's or electrician's written opinion connecting the leak or fault to the installation work. Get that opinion before repairs erase the evidence.

Ordinarily no. Careless workmanship is a civil and consumer matter, not a crime, unless there was dishonest intent. The consumer route is the correct one.

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Download the AC installation damage claim checklist (PDF).