Who Pays Insurance Deductible????

Started by AmyG5 • 2 replies • 3277 views

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AmyG5 (North Carolina)
Posts: 13

Posted:

We have a master condo insurance policy w/a $1000 deductible. If a water heater breaks in a upper unit causing extensive damage to the unit below who is responsible to pay the deductible- the upper unit(which had no damage) or the lower unit? Or is the associations responsibility to pay the deductible? Thank you.

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

Contact your property manager and discuss the situation including assessing whether any damage greatly exceeds $1,000, the amount of your deductible. I know of a NC Condo community where people - with water heater failure and subsequent water damage- were simply filing claims, successful claims, against the master insurance policy. The insurance company got fed up and dropped that community, leaving the only community-wide insurance option being a $25,000 deductible policy, which is essentially basic fire insurance. No more claims for failed maintenance issues.

My opinion is that the water heater owner's insurance is responsible - if they're insured. That is an opinion only. Condo life features completely different methods of doing business. Good luck.

AmyG5 (North Carolina)
Posts: 13

Posted:

The way our bylaws are written it is the master building policy that covers the damage. An owners individual policy only covers their personal belongings (furniture etc). The individual policy will not cover the deductible of the master policy. The damage was extensive-hardwood flooring buckled and needed to be replaced as well as walls and ceilings needed to be removed/replaced. The claim was quite significant and far surpassed the $1000 deductible. We are not sure who should pay the deductible. Most people have replaced their water heaters before a problem occured but their are some homeowners who have not. Is their anything we can do to "insist" that aging units be replaced before we have another situation like we have now? Thanks.

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