HOA not reimbursing owner for water damage caused by water heaters

1st check your governing documents. I would look at the declarations, it should state who's responsibility it is.

Next, I would contact your property manager or Board and find out who the general counsel is for the Association. A quick phone call to them could put the issue to rest.

If it is the Associations responsibility to cover the loss, and the deductible on the insurance is $5000 (for example), but the loss was at a cost of $3,000, then the Board should understand that they need to pay that bill "out of pocket." Just because it ins't a claim against the insurance policy doesn't automatically get the Association "off the hook."

However, if the documents are clear that the Association is not responsible for the interior of the unit then it will be the owners responsibility to pay for the repairs.

Hope this helps

I noticed the word reimbursing in your statement. Does this mean you have paid for the repairs and asked them to reimburse you the cost? Are you asking them to pay the whole bill straight out? That wouldn't be reimbursing.

Confused as you say they paid for the new water heater and replaced it. They won't pay for the actual damages inside your unit caused by the faulty water heater? Is that the situation. They won't pay because the cost doesn't come up to their deductible amount. Which kind of make sense. They are trying to avoid an insurance claim so they either won't lose their insurance or the rates going up. What they should do instead is have you fix the issue below the insurance deductible and then reimburse you for that cost. Maybe that would be the compromise.

Thank you all for your suggestions and comments. We are still trying to resolve this, but the HOA board still holds that the common area does not include the space between units? My insurance doesn't cover it, and the HOA insurance does. Doesn't that mean the common area is a responsibility of the HOA?

We've tried to discuss this with them and I have an email from the HOA president stating that the HOA has agreed to pay for the repairs, but this was overturned in the HOA meeting two days later when they voted against it. They defended that the HOA is not responsible for any repairs to individual units that are caused by wood destroying organisms, which they decided includes mold. I've already had it repaired and there was no sign of mold.

$1200.

Personally, I would have turned it over to my insurance company and let them deal with the Association's insurance company.
I pay for my insurance so I don't have to deal with this stuff.

However, it appears that JohnS chose to deal with the Associations insurance directly.

I would simply file a claim with the HOA insurance company. Who cares what they voted.

Submitting a claim is much easier.