Who is responsible for water damages in condo unit below??? HELP!?
April 26, 2010 by
Filed under condo water damage
Here’s my problem… I have a friend who fired her contractor doing some bathroom remodeling. My husband is handy, but isn’t a plumber and offered to help free of charge get the job completed. He knew a buddy that came and did some pipes in the bathroom and saved her some money rather than hiring a professional company. So, now she was notified the condo below has water on their celing and it must be from the remodel job. She just now informed us she no longer has insurance and my husband is responsible for ALL damages? We don’t know what to do… this was a favor and if we knew she didn’t have insurance he wouldn’t have gone near it. Don’t wanna loose friend or $$$$??? Insurance professionals or anyone with advise please?
You might need to get a lawyer. Since your husband did the work,even if it as free, he can be held liable if it was done incorrectly. However, she would have to prove that the damage was a result of what your husband did or failed to do as an expectation of completing the project.
Let me see if I have this right. Your husband has a friend who did the actual work? If that is the case, your friend, and the person doing the job will be responsible. Plumbers need to be licensed I believe, at least they do in the UK. If your friend hired someone to do a job for her, and she knew they were not licensed, then she should bear some of the onus. If she had a contractor and sacked them, then she must know they were licensed to do that kind of work, and she was just cutting corners to save money, and that was the result. As she was the one employing a non licensed person to do the job, I believe she is the one who is most responsible. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check with a lawyer, as I don’t really know how the law is applied in the states.
Unfortunately when you help people out especially with any type of construction, not only should you have insurance but you should also be licensed. You are taking a huge risk if something goes wrong, like it did. I would highly recommend to try and come to some kind of agreement outside of court with her, if at all possible.This is not an insurance question, it’s about who’s going to take resposibility for what happened and try to make it right. Maybe you both can meet somewhere in the middle and keep your friendship as well. Good luck!
Your husband isn’t liable, until a judge says he is. SHE doesn’t assign liability.
If your husband messed up the job, she’ll have to sue him, and a judge will decide if he’s actually liable for damages or not. Because he didn’t charge for it, your homeowners insurance would most likely defend him for free, for the lawsuit, and pay any judgement.
If your husband didn’t actually TOUCH anything, he’s not going to be held liable for anything, so she’s just blowing smoke.
I’d recommend you don’t talk to her, and wait for the suit papers to be served. If she serves him with papers, immediately report it to your homeowners insurance company, and send them a copy of the papers. Then let them handle it.
Too late, about losing the friend. Friends don’t demand money from people who tried to help them. Her homeowners wouldn’t have covered this, anyway. The insurance for the guy in the unit below, that’s the policy that should be paying for the damage to his unit.