by jbraker » Wed Jan 05, 2011 01:47 pm
I live in a town house. I had a water leak, very minor, from the ice maker on my fridge. I noticed from the puddle underneath, which i promptly shut off the water and disconnected the ice maker line (Copper). My neighbor the same morning came over to see if I had some sort of leak because suddenly her carpet in her dining room was soaking wet(At least 20-25 feet away from my refrigerator. She called her homeowners insurance and they repaired what they claimed was extensive water damage to the tune of $5540.00! Her repairs are already done. I have no water damage in my own unit. No one has ever come into my unit or investigated if the leak came from me for sure that I know of. maybe on her side.
Her insurance company sent me a letter saying that the alleged damage came from my ice maker leak. How will I pay them back the $5540.00.
I don't have homeowners insurance or that kind of money what should I do? I wasn't negligent?
Her insurance company sent me a letter saying that the alleged damage came from my ice maker leak. How will I pay them back the $5540.00.
I don't have homeowners insurance or that kind of money what should I do? I wasn't negligent?
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 02:10 pm Post Subject:
If you don't have insurance then you need to defend yourself. This may mean you send then a letter denying liability, it may mean you hire an attorney to legally defend you. If you live in a town home, what does your lease state about who is liable for what?
Its up to the insurance company how they would want to proceed. They could turn it over to an attorney for collections (doubtful), they could turn it over to a collection company, they could just close the matter. If they pursued the issue in court they would need to prove that they water came from your location. Where else would he water have come from? Water does not always go straight down... it usually sticks to things and can usually move sideways, especially if a slow leak.
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 02:15 pm Post Subject: Leak
I own the town home, However I don't have homeowners insurance (BIG MISTAKE Lesson learned!) the association policy covers outside and connecting structures, although it is vague about connecting walls. I am willing to give them some money, as it more than likely came from my leak, however, considering there was no damage on my side. I feel that whatever contractor did her repairs, just really ramped up a high bill for her insurance company and now they are looking to me to pay it.
I was thinking of writing them a letter denying negligence and offering to pay 10%. would that be something I could do, or should I hire an attorney to do this for me?
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 02:32 pm Post Subject:
Yup, you need to obtain insurance... esp living in a town home! So many things can go wrong.
Associations never want to pay for anything. Usually the people put in charge of them are more interested in their own egos then anything else. Also, they don't need to have any knowledge about the issues they handle. So insurance is good to protect yourself. It should be inexpensive.
You can certainly discuss it with the adjuster (I'd call). I'd explain that there is no water damage to your dwelling so you don't feel the water came from your location. If you want, you could offer to let them inspect (you may not want to). Put on your p o ker face and go through a list of reason's why you feel the water did not come from your location. Who installed this water line? How long ago? Is it possible someone did it recently and they did it incorrectly?
Fridge water lines are notorious for cracking. The heat from the fridge drys them out and they crack. On a side note, I'd recommend one of those metal lines or the lines housed in braided metal.
You could just politely explain to the adjuster why you are not responsible and decline any payment or you could offer to pay a percentage of their demand. To be honest, they would probably settle for almost any offer you made. If you do make an offer, let them know up front that you'd require a property damage release in return (you can find them at ClaimPages.com).
I think they have a weak case... but the problem is, you don't know how far they are willing to push it. They may just send letters. Call the adjuster and explain that you don't feel liable and why. Feel them out and see if it sounds like they would be willing to drop the matter. You may even want to tell them you understand why they feel the water came from your location but.... and then go into why you feel it did not. If you were to call the adjuster and just start yelling, then they are going to have less of a reason to listen to you.
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 02:44 pm Post Subject: leak
The refrigerator was there when I bought the house in 2007. so it was not recently installed, it was copper tubing and there was a slight drip when i found the leak. I am shocked that it soaked her walls and carpet 25 feet away on the other side, and not in my unit, seemingly over night. If it was a slow leak, why suddenly a 10x 12 soaked carpet. wouldn't she have noticed a wet floor before then? you would think if it was a slow leak.
however water does weird things, and more than likely it was from my fridge.
Thank you so much for your advice. It has been keeping up at night truly.
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 03:26 pm Post Subject: last question
With the property damage release form. are you saying I should print and fill that out for them to sign and return?
Or just ask them to return a property Damage release to me?
thank you
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