Sunday, February 12, 2012

I own a condo, and my hot water heater leaked and caused some damage to the unit below. Am I responsible?

April 18, 2010 by  
Filed under condo water damage

Comments

13 Responses to “I own a condo, and my hot water heater leaked and caused some damage to the unit below. Am I responsible?”
  1. aussie says:

    the land lord is

  2. Mr. KnowItAll says:

    Umm….yah. keyword=owner

  3. tampamar says:

    Yes.

  4. local2daMax says:

    If you own the condo then YES.

  5. The mom says:

    Legally and ethically, yes. It was your heater that caused the damage, and should be covered by your insurance policy if the damage was that bad. You are responsible for damage caused by anything you own- be it child, pet, or appliance.

  6. Mooseles says:

    Yes, you probably are. The condo above me had the same thing happen and the owner had plasterers and painters fix my apartment immediately, no questions asked, all very amicable. The damage was minor but she was definitely responsible under the condominium bylaws.

    If you have liability insurance, that will cover it. If you don’t have liability insurance, you should because besides the water heater, air conditioners can also leak.

  7. axis mentis says:

    yes

  8. JW says:

    Definitely since you are the owner :(

  9. pdudenhefer says:

    yes but your homeowners insurance should cover it

  10. ♥Tom♥ says:

    In most States in the USA you ARE responsible. In some Cities the water heaters above someone else’s property are required to sit in a pan with a drain to prevent them from flooding someone elses appartment or condo in case of failure…

    by the way, the pan does not work if the failure causes it to spray out the side of the water heater!! LOL!…

    your insurance should pay for the damages.

  11. Scanless1999 says:

    first of all we do fire and water restoration and we see this
    QUITE A BIT
    It sounds like they might not cover this claim
    because the rule of thumb on water damage claims is that
    if the water comes from above they cover it (rain, storm etc)
    if the water comes from below THEY DENY THE CLAIM
    (washer and dishwasher hose, pipes, water heater, plumbing)

    first get an accessment on how much damage was done in many cases it is not as expensive as you think ..
    If this is in one or two small areas (500 Sq Ft or less)
    Absolutely do this out of pocket
    two get 3 estimates ON THE LABOR ONLY
    DO NOT GO WITH THE CHEAPEST PRICE
    three if you feel you have someone qualified to fix this GET THE MATERIALS YOURSELF
    because drywall wood flooring and other materials
    are EXTREMELY CHEAP

    instead of filing a claim I would use this approach
    becasue if you make a claim you could have your policy dropped because ADJUSTERS HATE WATER DAMAGE CLAIMS
    If you do attempt to file a claim I will tell you a secret you will always need to rememeber….
    When the adjuster records your audio statement on your claim
    DO NOT (I cannot stress this enough) DO NOT say the word FLOOD, use the word moisture damage, when you say FLOOD that will kill you claim because it is in 95% of ALL policies written
    that your policy DOES NOT COVER MOLD AND FLOOD DAMAGE
    they try to be slick because if you say “flood”
    and this was to go to trial they WILL REPEATEDLY play that audio recording OVER AND OVER AGAIN and have a copy of your policy on a power point screen so they jury can see this ….
    highlighted ..
    you problably are through ALLSTATE or STATE FARM
    they are in civil court so much here in Atlanta Georgia
    any prospective juror with coverage with any of the two is AUTOMATICALLY disqualified …so they KNOW THE GAME
    they made these changes after hurricane andrew hit florida HARD in the 90’s

    In almost ALL states they made
    this law because they threaten to leave their state completely if there was not a change in that law

  12. puterwiz says:

    Yes, if it’s your heater you are responsible.

  13. Darkgoth says:

    ok so what if your neighbor above you had a water heater and didnt repair it or watch for leaks, ornever had a pan underneath it to prevent water from going all over…..or simply was old and cracked and leaked into your condo..ruining thusands of dollars of your stuff…..would you think it was YOUR responsibility or his??? think about it

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