by AngieinLA » Sat Jun 28, 2008 08:02 pm
My parents have a townhouse in Las Vegas. No one lives there full time. It's a second home. My parents neglected to buy a homeowners policy, mistakenly believing that the insurance for the association might cover them - they only cover catastrophic damage.
No one was in the house when a small leak started in the toilet connection.
My parents were out of the country so I went there as soon as I heard from our real estate agent about the situation. It was on the market at the time.
I got there and found out that, not only was our house flooded, but the water had traveled to the adjoining condo. I immediately called a reputable mold/remediation company with over 20 years of experience. At the time, I did not know that my parents had no insurance and could not talk to them.
The company inspected my house and gave me an estimate to dry the house, open the walls, etc. I then went to the neighbor's house and offered to have this company take care of her house also. I told the neighbor to let me do it so she wouldn't have to pay her insurance deductible. Her insurance adjuster was with her and he had called another remediation company, which hadn't arrived yet. They discussed it and declined my offer.
When my parents went back to Vegas, they reimbursed the neighbor the $500 deductible she paid.
Now the insurance company is threatening to sue us unless we pay them $4,500. Our insurance agent in L.A. told me that they can't get their money from us because the event was an accident, nothing that we caused intentionally. What can we do?
No one was in the house when a small leak started in the toilet connection.
My parents were out of the country so I went there as soon as I heard from our real estate agent about the situation. It was on the market at the time.
I got there and found out that, not only was our house flooded, but the water had traveled to the adjoining condo. I immediately called a reputable mold/remediation company with over 20 years of experience. At the time, I did not know that my parents had no insurance and could not talk to them.
The company inspected my house and gave me an estimate to dry the house, open the walls, etc. I then went to the neighbor's house and offered to have this company take care of her house also. I told the neighbor to let me do it so she wouldn't have to pay her insurance deductible. Her insurance adjuster was with her and he had called another remediation company, which hadn't arrived yet. They discussed it and declined my offer.
When my parents went back to Vegas, they reimbursed the neighbor the $500 deductible she paid.
Now the insurance company is threatening to sue us unless we pay them $4,500. Our insurance agent in L.A. told me that they can't get their money from us because the event was an accident, nothing that we caused intentionally. What can we do?
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 01:41 am Post Subject:
Now the insurance company is threatening to sue us unless we pay them $4,500. Our insurance agent in L.A. told me that they can't get their money from us because the event was an accident, nothing that we caused intentionally.
The act/loss/accident does not have to be ''intentional'' for the owner to still be liable and negligent...For instance you never (I wouldn't think) intentionally rear end some one, but you were still negligent therefore liable for the damages...You might want to consult an attorney, but I think your folks are still going to be held responsible for this damage to the neighbor...One theory mayl be that your parents should've turned that water off if they were going to be gone for an extended period of time, thus removing this possibility. I'm sorry but agents generally are not that well versed in negligence and liablity. Double check it with an attorney, but I'll be they are on the hook...also for pete's sake get a condo policy on this place!!! And count your blessings it wasn't 500k in damages! (I'm sorry for them though I'm sure they had no idea this could've happened...)Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 03:54 am Post Subject:
As mentioned, your parents can and probably are 100% liable. There is a that agent is not an adjuster. They don't understand liability.
I handle claims like this all the time (last one has two claimants and one turned in a $61,000 another claim I currently have is at $56,000... so consider yourself lucky). Your parents are responsible to make sure they maintain their home. If a pipe or fitting broke, they were not maintaining it and they were also in complete control of the plumbing.
They have two homes and they did not know they needed homeowners insurance on the townhouse? It's not financed?
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 05:11 am Post Subject:
Well, you probably have got your answer by now, but let me summaries it for you once more, 'your parents are liable for the damages caused to the neighbor'.
the very purpose of carrying liability insurance is to protect you in this kind of situations. The other party's insurer is absolutely correct in suing you for the damages caused by the leaking pipe.
It wud be wise for you if you can settle the claim outside court, it'll save lots of hassles to both the parties. However, you should still consult with a legal professional for better understanding of the situation in hand.
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 06:56 pm Post Subject:
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 06:57 pm Post Subject:
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 07:00 pm Post Subject:
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 09:19 pm Post Subject:
Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 09:54 am Post Subject:
Usually, insurance companies cover this kind of damages if they happened accidentally. Like the toilet started leaking due to which wall damaged occur and our insurer didn't pay us for repair. That's why we installed a new toilet from here ( https://toiletreviewer.com/best-toilets/ ) and repair the wall with our own without any help. In my opinion, your case is also kind of negligence because the damage that occurs due to unresolved repair matter is not covered by insurer either you did it intentionally or not.
Add your comment