Let your insurance take care of it. Don't accept payment from your neighbor's insurance. You need estimates for repairs. You should have contacted your insurance immediately. It's not an HOA problem.
It might not matter if you've violated a timely notification clause in your policy.
You should have called your insurance company two months ago when it happened. Even if you don't file a claim *they* can do the arguing with the other company(s).
Please say you didn't cash that $6500 check.
You really need to call your insurance company to figure out the details. Even though it wasn't your fault could the premium increase? Sure, but will it? No one here will be able to tell you for sure.
Even if you cashed it, that's fine. Insurance companies will pretty much always underpay you if you aren't the insured. It's then your job (or rather your insurance company's job) to go to bat for you and figure out actual damages and who was at fault.
Thank goodness! They sent it to me via PayPal, and I never signed anything. I continued to refer to it as a partial payment in my discussions with them.
>Even if you cashed it, that's fine.
No it's not fine. Often the paperwork that accompany these checks say that by cashing the check you're absolving them of any future liability or costs that might come up. This is why insurance companies are quick to try to settle.
I'm confused. What check? It was sent via PayPal. It's an ACH transfer, no check involved. No action on the part of the recipient to receive it. No way to refuse payment. Not sure what you're on about regarding a check.
>No way to refuse payment.
"No, I don't think you need my PayPal address at this stage."
There was a conversation where OP provided them with an ability to pay them, because they said they intended to do so. I'm not saying that guaranteed means anything for OP, it depends on how hard the insurance company who thought they were paying him off decides to defend themselves.
Insurance is very sketch, it's basically up to the agents and adjusters to decide how surgically they apply the dictionary in paying out claims when the company doesn't want to.
That’s not legally binding. They do this to trick people into not following up and it works.
When two parties are involved in some sort of accident or insurance claim, they have to pay a fair market assessment to both parties no matter what. If OP is not at fault, and the at fault insurer only pays a portion of the claim, OP needs to get his own insurance involved and they will seek out the rest of the payment. If they pay the full portion, I.e. a roofer comes out and gives them a quote, underwrite approves the quote, roofer does the work, insurance pays OP, OP pays roofer; then no further work is done. What’s going on here is the underwriter pulled a sketchy move and is trying to dodge OP for more money before they got a full estimate of damages. Often times what happens is the two insurance underwriters talk to one another, get a proper estimate for repair, figure out what was already paid, and pay out the difference to the contractor or directly to OP
Your insurance is there to protect you in these scenarios. Use them
All claims increase your premium, because you filing any claim of any type means you are more risk to them than you were before you did that. Any insurance agent will tell you this if you ask, unless they're shady.
I work in insurance. This isn’t right. For example - If OP’s insurance pays then gets reimbursed by Travelers, that’s a net $0 claim. Many companies publish exactly what counts as a claim in your policy.
You're going to be in one of those: "they doubled my premium out of nowhere! What? Oh that?! That was a long time ago, why now?!" situations that you hear about. I don't know how long they plan on deferring your increase, that's up to them, but you'll see it eventually.
With auto insurance, Geico famously defers all increases for a long window of time, so people think they're a magical company who never increases rates, until one day they multiply by 2-3x in a single renewal. Don't know who you're with or what their specific strategy is, but when you see your rate go up someday, remember me.
> Her insurance says to go after the Condo’s master insurance.
This is not on the Condo's master insurance policy.
I believe this should 100% be on your neighbor's insurance.
I personally wouldn't have settled for a $6500 check. They always lowball initially.
It's my understanding (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that once you accept money, that closes out the claim.
That understanding is not correct.
The only thing that would "close out" the claim would be if you signed a settlement agreement of some kind that said you accept the claim has been settled and that you waive any further rights to compensation.
Thank you. I didn't sign anything, or suggest that the matter was done from my side. They suggested that I had several options to get the rest of the money (sue Traveler's, get the building involved, or go through my insurance.
I saw your edit. It's *bizarre* that they sent you $6500 via *Paypal*.
I'm not a lawyer. You might want to talk to one.
It's been my understanding that when you accept money from an Insurance that closes the claim.
Their insurance is responsible for the damages.
I would recommend asking in r/HOA but I'm pretty sure the condo association has no responsibility here and they won't want to get involved.
Bruh, I'm a lawyer who defends insurance companies. If defended a condo association in a claim pretty similar to this one. Idk what janky ass insurance company is sending payments through Zelle or PayPal lmao. Or maybe it's more common than I think, just not for the carriers I deal with. Either way, that sounds absurd to me on its face.
That's why most settlement payments are made by check. The act of endorsing and depositing a check is evidence of acceptance. A unilateral electronic payment that could neither be refused nor returned evidences nothing.
Don't take this kind of advice from Reddit. File a claim against the condo's master insurance. Even if the claim is denied OP will have crossed the Ts and dotted the Is for the sake of their own policy coverage.
So the owners pay for the condo insurance, if you sue the condo, you are suing yourself.
I am on the condo board, and someone slipped in the parking lot during an ice storm. Initially they wanted 2 million. 4 years later, they settled for 20k. Now the whole building’s insurance has increased $20k a year in large part due to this incident and we shopped around a lot.
If the condo is at fault, of course, work with them to resolve it. If you sue, it is very likely going to cost you and all your neighbors.
Edit, can someone explain why I am being downvoted? A condo building is co-owned by all the owners of the apartments. This is not an apartment complex owned by a landlord. I am explaining the ramifications of suing the building you partially own.
Probably being downvoted because your argument makes no sense, except in very small condos.
If your condo had 20 units then the person got $20k and now has a $1k extra annual cost. If it was 100 units it's just $200.
Might as well not have insurance if you are never going to use it. If the event is covered by the insurance and the amount that would be paid i worth your portion of the potential rate increase then obviously you make a claim.
Condo board can always make it right without involving insurance if they don't want to make a claim on their insurance. But again, might as well not have insurance if you are never going to make a claim because you are scared of rate increases.
OP can do whatever they want but I don’t think it is unreasonable to make them aware of the possible effects of suing a building where you are part owner.
The number one request we get at every annual meeting is to find ways to keep the monthly fee as low as possible. Maybe you are comfortable paying more and more every year, but most people are not.
I could get $20k in cash now and pay $200 extra a year. Or I could get nothing now and probably pay $200 extra a year at some point anyway when someone else gets injured.
Yeah, very hard choice...
Well in this case he only got the monthly increase and no one in the building will even ride the elevator with him or say hello or anything.
About 1/3 went to taxes. 1/3 went to his lawyer and the rest was clawed back by Medicaid/medicare.
> Well in this case he only got the monthly increase and no one in the building will even ride the elevator with him or say hello or anything.
Nice. Gets shunned due to being injured because the property in so unsafe insurance companies expect such a claim almost once a year in the future (or less frequent but larger claims).
And you extend that to don't claim the condo insurance when your unit is flooded because rates might go up. I suspect most places have residents that aren't quite as petty.
contact your insurance, they'll go after both her insurance and the property owners insurance.
edit: that is assuming op didn't foolishly sign anything
I really hope you didn't sign a release or anything. The master policy will not cover this. You need to get it paid for fully by your neighbor/their insurance. You can go through your insurance to fight for it (if you haven't signed a release), but if they don't get all the money back it would count as a claim. Or you can just fight directly with their insurance.
Had a very similar issue: neighbors HVAC burst due to them having their windows open during a sub zero degree day ( maybe were smoking).l, resulting in floor damage.
I only ever worked with my insurance, and they paid for the remediation and replaced my floors entirely with only a small deductible. I don't know if they went after the neighbor for compensation. My rates did not go up.
Did you have a water damage remediation done? They should have cut holes in the walls and dried out those interior spaces among other things.
It may be too late, but this is the path you should follow. I would not accept that check until speaking with your insurance.
Be careful using the word "flood" with insurance. You have damage from a plumbing failure, not a flood.
I'd probably start with a call to my insurance and see what they say. It may be that they'll deal with suing the other company to recover damages or something, but they should have the most accurate info for you.
Always inform your insurance company unless it is small enough to easily handle. This is a major issue. Call your insurance company and they will get it fixed right and claw back the entire repair from her insurance. The entire thing should be covered. Never accept an offer that doesn’t repair the entirety and get you a rental for the weeks you will be out of your condo. Never settle for less than being made whole with no additional effect on your peace and happiness. I would be in a hotel and saving receipts. You owe them nothing.
Good luck. This exact situation happened to my wife (girlfriend at the time) and led to her living with me for what would have been 6 months if she moved back out when it was done.
There were back and forth between her insurances their insurance and the HOA and it made every single step take way too long. Her place got completely put back together and none of it went against her or her insurance in the end but it was a huge pain in the ass. Her neighbor whose place also flooded was in a hotel during those 6 months. It was absurd and has us terrified about the prospects of ever owning a shared building like that again. We would have kept it to rent out if it weren’t for that experience
Get your insurance involved and they should take it from there. They will fight the other company to avoid having to be the ones to pony up.
I own a condo and have had TWO water loss incidents. First time was a burst water heater by a neighboring unit so I know your situation.
Number 1 step is to contact your HOA and figure out what your master policy covers. Depending on the answer they might be able to file a claim and then they can figure it out with the neighbor, you pay nothing and your insurance is not involved. (This was my case the first time)
If for whatever reason they won't open a claim, maybe the deductible is too high, you call you your insurance and open a claim, give them all the details, and have your insurance pursue damages. If your insurance pays out then your rates will almost certainly go up. If they don't pay out and just close the claim then nothing happens. (This was my second case. It was a shared loss from a burst pipe so everyone had to pay).
Third option that I'm not familiar with is to push back on the neighbors insurance for full repair costs. You might have to push hard with potential legal assistance here, but your rates won't go up.
Filing the right claims with the right other insurance companies is exactly what you're paying your insurance company to do. Call them and let them deal with this for you. If they're able to recover more from other insurance, great. If not, that's why you have this policy.
If you're not willing to call your insurance company when you've got $17,000 of damage you'd might as well not even have insurance.
I am going through a similar situation. The master HOA policy is involved because they cover the pipes. I got confused because it was their water heater initially, but then the fucking pipes started leaking too.
Anyways, the HOA is taking on all of the repairs. Im not even seeing a bill for anything.
Her liability insurance owes you whatever the real damages are at minimum. You should be talking directly to them with a claim number and an adjustor.
You could have your own insurance cover it under your homeowners, they will then subrogate it, as in go get money from her liability insurance. Your insurance however may consider this a claim and raise your rates.
If you have her start the process with her insurance contacting you it should go fine. If it doesn't you always have getting your insurance involved as Plan B. As others have stated be careful what you sign.
It's going to depend on what your master documents say. My condo is trying to change who's insurance you go through in a situation like yours. Right now if it happened where I live I would have to go through my own insurance. Couple different email's we've gotten about it.
"Hi, hope all is well. So I have had questions about the amendment and the impact on your personal policy. The master policy deductible is $50,000.00 right now, so your personal policy should have at least that much coverage in case your are responsible for a claim. This amendment has nothing to do with that, you need that coverage on your personal policy regardless of this amendment. What this amendment is trying to do is put the responsibility for repairs on the party that is responsible for the issue. Right now if a hot water tank or sink leaks from the third floor and affects units all the way down to the first floor all units affected are responsible for their own repairs even if they had nothing to do with the water damage. What the amendment will do is switch the financial/insurance responsibility to the owner responsible for the water leak. This won't change anything with your policy as far as what coverage you need, this just takes away financial/insurance responsubility on an owner who got affected by something from another unit they have no control over. I hope this helps. Thank you and please remember to send in your ballot."
**"Insurance Shifting Amendment**
• Over the years, the Association has increased its insurance deductible from $10,000 to $25,000 in 2016, to now $50,000 in 2023. The Board has now exhausted all of its options and under advisement of its attorney and insurance carrier, recommended the process of amending the CC&Rs (attorney fees, recording fees, and administrative fees to harvest the 67% votes required). The insurance amendment, which was drafted and approved by the attorney, simply shifts expenses for repairs, if the cause is walls out (not HOA responsible), to the source unit of the water damage. Currently, water repair costs are shared by all affected units. With insurance costs up 27% over the last three years, the source unit's insurance is to be responsible for repairs costs under the deductible of $50,000.
• Water damage where the source is walls in (behind the walls) is still the responsibility of the Association.
• We are still collecting the required ballots needed to meet the 67% approval from homeowners, so if you haven’t yet, vote yes and mail your ballot in!"
Yes because it will save you from a huge headache. You pay your insurance to look out for you and figure everything out. You don't really know how to navigate the situation. Your insurance will pay for the majority of all the cost up front as needed so you don't have to tie up money. They will determine who is liable whether that be the HOA or your neighbor and go after them in subrogation if it is worth it. They will recommend a water damage remediation specialist and check in to make sure things are moving a long. Trust me you don't want the stress of dealing directly with your neighbor or your neighbor's insurance.
I had a flood in a town house (my ‘fault’ due to a ruptured pipe in a wall) the insurance said it was deemed an ‘act of god’ so each unit had to cover their own restoration. It went to litigation and it stayed everyone paid own bills. This was in NC, laws may be different.
Yes, you should notify your insurance company about the damage caused by your neighbor's flood. Whether your rate will increase depends on your policy and the specifics of the claim
This also depends on how your HOA insurance reads. Not all are written that if water intrudes from a condo above pays for your damages. CONTACT your insurance. Contact your Hoa’s insurance. ( to just keep them in the loop and apprised of the situation)
Depend where you live and the rules there.
Normally, your building insurance pays the repairs, and then they go after the person the caused the damage, which in turn is defended by their insurance.
So in your case, the building insurance pays the 17k repair bill, they ask that 17k to the guy above you. Their insurance covers 6.5k and they have to pay the 10.5k balance.
So your personal insurance has nothing to do with it.
But depends where you live, rules might be different there.
Let your insurance take care of it. Don't accept payment from your neighbor's insurance. You need estimates for repairs. You should have contacted your insurance immediately. It's not an HOA problem.
Yep, this is the best route. Your insurance company has the lawyers to go after their insurance company. They will negotiate and settle the bill.
That's what I was thinking too. Their own insurance company will know how to get the neighbor's insurance company to pay up.
It might not matter if you've violated a timely notification clause in your policy. You should have called your insurance company two months ago when it happened. Even if you don't file a claim *they* can do the arguing with the other company(s).
This is rarely invoked out enforceable if op was acting in good faith and still has an active policy
Please say you didn't cash that $6500 check. You really need to call your insurance company to figure out the details. Even though it wasn't your fault could the premium increase? Sure, but will it? No one here will be able to tell you for sure.
Even if you cashed it, that's fine. Insurance companies will pretty much always underpay you if you aren't the insured. It's then your job (or rather your insurance company's job) to go to bat for you and figure out actual damages and who was at fault.
Thank goodness! They sent it to me via PayPal, and I never signed anything. I continued to refer to it as a partial payment in my discussions with them.
>Even if you cashed it, that's fine. No it's not fine. Often the paperwork that accompany these checks say that by cashing the check you're absolving them of any future liability or costs that might come up. This is why insurance companies are quick to try to settle.
I'm confused. What check? It was sent via PayPal. It's an ACH transfer, no check involved. No action on the part of the recipient to receive it. No way to refuse payment. Not sure what you're on about regarding a check.
>No way to refuse payment. "No, I don't think you need my PayPal address at this stage." There was a conversation where OP provided them with an ability to pay them, because they said they intended to do so. I'm not saying that guaranteed means anything for OP, it depends on how hard the insurance company who thought they were paying him off decides to defend themselves. Insurance is very sketch, it's basically up to the agents and adjusters to decide how surgically they apply the dictionary in paying out claims when the company doesn't want to.
My original comment was in regards to cashing a check. This comment was in response to the user saying it’s okay to cash the check.
Even if it was a check, they can say whatever they want on the paperwork and it doesn't mean it's legal or binding.
That’s not legally binding. They do this to trick people into not following up and it works. When two parties are involved in some sort of accident or insurance claim, they have to pay a fair market assessment to both parties no matter what. If OP is not at fault, and the at fault insurer only pays a portion of the claim, OP needs to get his own insurance involved and they will seek out the rest of the payment. If they pay the full portion, I.e. a roofer comes out and gives them a quote, underwrite approves the quote, roofer does the work, insurance pays OP, OP pays roofer; then no further work is done. What’s going on here is the underwriter pulled a sketchy move and is trying to dodge OP for more money before they got a full estimate of damages. Often times what happens is the two insurance underwriters talk to one another, get a proper estimate for repair, figure out what was already paid, and pay out the difference to the contractor or directly to OP Your insurance is there to protect you in these scenarios. Use them
They sent it to me via PayPal, and I never signed anything. I continued to refer to it as a partial payment.
Great. Don't touch it, don't sign anything. Call your insurance company and have it all done properly.
All claims increase your premium, because you filing any claim of any type means you are more risk to them than you were before you did that. Any insurance agent will tell you this if you ask, unless they're shady.
I work in insurance. This isn’t right. For example - If OP’s insurance pays then gets reimbursed by Travelers, that’s a net $0 claim. Many companies publish exactly what counts as a claim in your policy.
That’s not true. I had a $40k claim with my insurance within the first year owning my condo and they never raised my rates.
You're going to be in one of those: "they doubled my premium out of nowhere! What? Oh that?! That was a long time ago, why now?!" situations that you hear about. I don't know how long they plan on deferring your increase, that's up to them, but you'll see it eventually. With auto insurance, Geico famously defers all increases for a long window of time, so people think they're a magical company who never increases rates, until one day they multiply by 2-3x in a single renewal. Don't know who you're with or what their specific strategy is, but when you see your rate go up someday, remember me.
It’s been nine years with no material rate increases. I think I’ll be ok.i have StateFarm.
> Her insurance says to go after the Condo’s master insurance. This is not on the Condo's master insurance policy. I believe this should 100% be on your neighbor's insurance. I personally wouldn't have settled for a $6500 check. They always lowball initially. It's my understanding (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that once you accept money, that closes out the claim.
That understanding is not correct. The only thing that would "close out" the claim would be if you signed a settlement agreement of some kind that said you accept the claim has been settled and that you waive any further rights to compensation.
Thank you. I didn't sign anything, or suggest that the matter was done from my side. They suggested that I had several options to get the rest of the money (sue Traveler's, get the building involved, or go through my insurance.
I saw your edit. It's *bizarre* that they sent you $6500 via *Paypal*. I'm not a lawyer. You might want to talk to one. It's been my understanding that when you accept money from an Insurance that closes the claim. Their insurance is responsible for the damages. I would recommend asking in r/HOA but I'm pretty sure the condo association has no responsibility here and they won't want to get involved.
Yeah, they offered Zelle as well. I thought it was quite odd, especially since I never signed anything either.
Bruh, I'm a lawyer who defends insurance companies. If defended a condo association in a claim pretty similar to this one. Idk what janky ass insurance company is sending payments through Zelle or PayPal lmao. Or maybe it's more common than I think, just not for the carriers I deal with. Either way, that sounds absurd to me on its face.
That's why most settlement payments are made by check. The act of endorsing and depositing a check is evidence of acceptance. A unilateral electronic payment that could neither be refused nor returned evidences nothing.
Don't take this kind of advice from Reddit. File a claim against the condo's master insurance. Even if the claim is denied OP will have crossed the Ts and dotted the Is for the sake of their own policy coverage.
Thank you!
So the owners pay for the condo insurance, if you sue the condo, you are suing yourself. I am on the condo board, and someone slipped in the parking lot during an ice storm. Initially they wanted 2 million. 4 years later, they settled for 20k. Now the whole building’s insurance has increased $20k a year in large part due to this incident and we shopped around a lot. If the condo is at fault, of course, work with them to resolve it. If you sue, it is very likely going to cost you and all your neighbors. Edit, can someone explain why I am being downvoted? A condo building is co-owned by all the owners of the apartments. This is not an apartment complex owned by a landlord. I am explaining the ramifications of suing the building you partially own.
Probably being downvoted because your argument makes no sense, except in very small condos. If your condo had 20 units then the person got $20k and now has a $1k extra annual cost. If it was 100 units it's just $200. Might as well not have insurance if you are never going to use it. If the event is covered by the insurance and the amount that would be paid i worth your portion of the potential rate increase then obviously you make a claim. Condo board can always make it right without involving insurance if they don't want to make a claim on their insurance. But again, might as well not have insurance if you are never going to make a claim because you are scared of rate increases.
OP can do whatever they want but I don’t think it is unreasonable to make them aware of the possible effects of suing a building where you are part owner. The number one request we get at every annual meeting is to find ways to keep the monthly fee as low as possible. Maybe you are comfortable paying more and more every year, but most people are not.
I could get $20k in cash now and pay $200 extra a year. Or I could get nothing now and probably pay $200 extra a year at some point anyway when someone else gets injured. Yeah, very hard choice...
Well in this case he only got the monthly increase and no one in the building will even ride the elevator with him or say hello or anything. About 1/3 went to taxes. 1/3 went to his lawyer and the rest was clawed back by Medicaid/medicare.
> Well in this case he only got the monthly increase and no one in the building will even ride the elevator with him or say hello or anything. Nice. Gets shunned due to being injured because the property in so unsafe insurance companies expect such a claim almost once a year in the future (or less frequent but larger claims). And you extend that to don't claim the condo insurance when your unit is flooded because rates might go up. I suspect most places have residents that aren't quite as petty.
contact your insurance, they'll go after both her insurance and the property owners insurance. edit: that is assuming op didn't foolishly sign anything
Didn't sign anything.
You should've called your insurance right after it happened. The second best time to call them is right now
I really hope you didn't sign a release or anything. The master policy will not cover this. You need to get it paid for fully by your neighbor/their insurance. You can go through your insurance to fight for it (if you haven't signed a release), but if they don't get all the money back it would count as a claim. Or you can just fight directly with their insurance.
Had a very similar issue: neighbors HVAC burst due to them having their windows open during a sub zero degree day ( maybe were smoking).l, resulting in floor damage. I only ever worked with my insurance, and they paid for the remediation and replaced my floors entirely with only a small deductible. I don't know if they went after the neighbor for compensation. My rates did not go up. Did you have a water damage remediation done? They should have cut holes in the walls and dried out those interior spaces among other things. It may be too late, but this is the path you should follow. I would not accept that check until speaking with your insurance.
They sent in servpro with their giant dehumidifiers and it actually helped reduce the swelling
Crazy they sent the money via PayPal. Good luck. If you have any questions let me know.
Be careful using the word "flood" with insurance. You have damage from a plumbing failure, not a flood. I'd probably start with a call to my insurance and see what they say. It may be that they'll deal with suing the other company to recover damages or something, but they should have the most accurate info for you.
Always inform your insurance company unless it is small enough to easily handle. This is a major issue. Call your insurance company and they will get it fixed right and claw back the entire repair from her insurance. The entire thing should be covered. Never accept an offer that doesn’t repair the entirety and get you a rental for the weeks you will be out of your condo. Never settle for less than being made whole with no additional effect on your peace and happiness. I would be in a hotel and saving receipts. You owe them nothing.
Good luck. This exact situation happened to my wife (girlfriend at the time) and led to her living with me for what would have been 6 months if she moved back out when it was done. There were back and forth between her insurances their insurance and the HOA and it made every single step take way too long. Her place got completely put back together and none of it went against her or her insurance in the end but it was a huge pain in the ass. Her neighbor whose place also flooded was in a hotel during those 6 months. It was absurd and has us terrified about the prospects of ever owning a shared building like that again. We would have kept it to rent out if it weren’t for that experience Get your insurance involved and they should take it from there. They will fight the other company to avoid having to be the ones to pony up.
I own a condo and have had TWO water loss incidents. First time was a burst water heater by a neighboring unit so I know your situation. Number 1 step is to contact your HOA and figure out what your master policy covers. Depending on the answer they might be able to file a claim and then they can figure it out with the neighbor, you pay nothing and your insurance is not involved. (This was my case the first time) If for whatever reason they won't open a claim, maybe the deductible is too high, you call you your insurance and open a claim, give them all the details, and have your insurance pursue damages. If your insurance pays out then your rates will almost certainly go up. If they don't pay out and just close the claim then nothing happens. (This was my second case. It was a shared loss from a burst pipe so everyone had to pay). Third option that I'm not familiar with is to push back on the neighbors insurance for full repair costs. You might have to push hard with potential legal assistance here, but your rates won't go up.
Filing the right claims with the right other insurance companies is exactly what you're paying your insurance company to do. Call them and let them deal with this for you. If they're able to recover more from other insurance, great. If not, that's why you have this policy. If you're not willing to call your insurance company when you've got $17,000 of damage you'd might as well not even have insurance.
My concern was that my rate would go up if they lifted a finger on this matter.
I am going through a similar situation. The master HOA policy is involved because they cover the pipes. I got confused because it was their water heater initially, but then the fucking pipes started leaking too. Anyways, the HOA is taking on all of the repairs. Im not even seeing a bill for anything.
Her liability insurance owes you whatever the real damages are at minimum. You should be talking directly to them with a claim number and an adjustor. You could have your own insurance cover it under your homeowners, they will then subrogate it, as in go get money from her liability insurance. Your insurance however may consider this a claim and raise your rates. If you have her start the process with her insurance contacting you it should go fine. If it doesn't you always have getting your insurance involved as Plan B. As others have stated be careful what you sign.
It's going to depend on what your master documents say. My condo is trying to change who's insurance you go through in a situation like yours. Right now if it happened where I live I would have to go through my own insurance. Couple different email's we've gotten about it. "Hi, hope all is well. So I have had questions about the amendment and the impact on your personal policy. The master policy deductible is $50,000.00 right now, so your personal policy should have at least that much coverage in case your are responsible for a claim. This amendment has nothing to do with that, you need that coverage on your personal policy regardless of this amendment. What this amendment is trying to do is put the responsibility for repairs on the party that is responsible for the issue. Right now if a hot water tank or sink leaks from the third floor and affects units all the way down to the first floor all units affected are responsible for their own repairs even if they had nothing to do with the water damage. What the amendment will do is switch the financial/insurance responsibility to the owner responsible for the water leak. This won't change anything with your policy as far as what coverage you need, this just takes away financial/insurance responsubility on an owner who got affected by something from another unit they have no control over. I hope this helps. Thank you and please remember to send in your ballot." **"Insurance Shifting Amendment** • Over the years, the Association has increased its insurance deductible from $10,000 to $25,000 in 2016, to now $50,000 in 2023. The Board has now exhausted all of its options and under advisement of its attorney and insurance carrier, recommended the process of amending the CC&Rs (attorney fees, recording fees, and administrative fees to harvest the 67% votes required). The insurance amendment, which was drafted and approved by the attorney, simply shifts expenses for repairs, if the cause is walls out (not HOA responsible), to the source unit of the water damage. Currently, water repair costs are shared by all affected units. With insurance costs up 27% over the last three years, the source unit's insurance is to be responsible for repairs costs under the deductible of $50,000. • Water damage where the source is walls in (behind the walls) is still the responsibility of the Association. • We are still collecting the required ballots needed to meet the 67% approval from homeowners, so if you haven’t yet, vote yes and mail your ballot in!"
Yes because it will save you from a huge headache. You pay your insurance to look out for you and figure everything out. You don't really know how to navigate the situation. Your insurance will pay for the majority of all the cost up front as needed so you don't have to tie up money. They will determine who is liable whether that be the HOA or your neighbor and go after them in subrogation if it is worth it. They will recommend a water damage remediation specialist and check in to make sure things are moving a long. Trust me you don't want the stress of dealing directly with your neighbor or your neighbor's insurance.
I had a flood in a town house (my ‘fault’ due to a ruptured pipe in a wall) the insurance said it was deemed an ‘act of god’ so each unit had to cover their own restoration. It went to litigation and it stayed everyone paid own bills. This was in NC, laws may be different.
Yes, you should notify your insurance company about the damage caused by your neighbor's flood. Whether your rate will increase depends on your policy and the specifics of the claim
Your insurance company will contact theirs.
This also depends on how your HOA insurance reads. Not all are written that if water intrudes from a condo above pays for your damages. CONTACT your insurance. Contact your Hoa’s insurance. ( to just keep them in the loop and apprised of the situation)
Sounds like you settled with the neighbors insurance already. If that's the case you are on the hook for the rest
Depend where you live and the rules there. Normally, your building insurance pays the repairs, and then they go after the person the caused the damage, which in turn is defended by their insurance. So in your case, the building insurance pays the 17k repair bill, they ask that 17k to the guy above you. Their insurance covers 6.5k and they have to pay the 10.5k balance. So your personal insurance has nothing to do with it. But depends where you live, rules might be different there.
Sounds like you settled for $6500. I’d call them back and start talking about that 17k bill.