Leak into unit below

Started by LeoS1 • 2 replies • 1825 views

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LeoS1 (Florida)
Posts: 17

Posted:

What is the normal procedure (Florida) when a leak from an unit above causes damage to the downstairs unit?

My understanding is that the unit owner who suffered the loss (downstairs unit) should contact their insurance company and file a claim. Next the insurance company will send an adjuster out to determine what the cause of the leak was. If the leak was caused by something from the upstairs unit the claim would go to that unit owners insurance. If the leak was caused by a common area pipe or other source the claim would go to the Association.... Is that crrect?

Also, to what extent should the management company get involved when there is a leak that has been determined to be coming from the unit above?

RobertR1 (South Carolina)
Posts: 5,164

Posted:

Leo,
First. this is not a Florida answer, and I don't know if it is a SC answer either. But I have witnessed this a few times and concluded thus. The cause of the leak must be determined at some point. Obviously it is possible a leak from upstairs could damage a unit downstairs without anyone knowlewdge until the problem is discovered. In a critical situation the Regime must be immediately involved to prevent future damage to both properties and protect common property problems. At that time the regime should determine if there is common property involvement. The actual correction of the damage should be assessed by the insurance companies involved, all of them. I would believe the association has some oversight as they have some involvement, however slight, if nothing else because they have to inspect the damage to both properties and common property. The settlement (if between the two parties) is just that a settlement bvetween two parties. Placing blame is a problem for the insurance companies and could involve dragging the regime back into it. Our documents states it is a problem between the person above and the person below to resolve. It is not that simple sometimes if the damage is critical or extensive. It could be caused by renovations that had been done without Board approval, and that would seem to be also a board involvement. Our documents require that each unit carry HO6 insurance. Do they? I don't know if this is enforced or not unit by unit. Anyway, it can be sticky and everyone wants to stand up and say, it's not my fault. But the fault lies somewhere, such as a leak from rain on the roof that damages one or both parties. Again, all three parties can be involved. Solve on individual bases with the wisdom of Job, and you will be sure not all will be satisfied. There is another issue. Suppose a leak occurred from and ice machine in an upstairs unit and this caused extensive damage to a downstairs unit and no damage to common property. The owner downstairs has great incentive to get things put back together especially as a full time resident. The owner upstairs is non-responsive and lives 5 thousand mile away. It is the Regimes responsibility to intercede and make this right quickly. They have the enforcement powers to get the job done and bill the offender. They also should have the insurance information on the offending unit. In circumstances like this the regime should bill the offending unit for any time or expense required to protect the unit offended.

MikeS1
Posts: 668

Posted:

I love this one regarding the ice machine. Although it might be the Regimes responsibility to enter the property, turn the water off or stop the leak; I'm not so sure that you're going to talk them into making all the repairs at that point. Hopefully they do have a verification or a copy of the other unit owner's HO6 policy. If so, perhaps you can file a 3rd party claim against the unit owner for damages.

We owned one condo in one development where we know that the unit owner above was admittadly the cause of the damage to the condo. The condo association wasn't involved on this one and they just said call your insurance company. Well I called the insurance company for the unit owner above and they just wouldn't even take my report or claim. They said that I had to use my own company, pay the deductible that then let my insurance company subrogate. A lot of companies used to treat people this way until VA passed the Unfair claims act (1978 I believe) that basically says that if someone tries to file an insurance claim for damages as a result of their insured's negligence that they must formally take the report, investigate, determine liability, negligence, and either deny or pay the claim. It sure cuts down on the expense ratio when a little company that doesn't have a lot of staff, just decides to let the first party carrier incurr the expense of handling the claim. Well after I filed a complaint through the insurance commissioner, I got a check for damages like 10 days later.

Now we have another newer Condo that the docs are much more clear on this subject. It basically takes negligence per se out of the equation and says that if the water comes from plumbing or other devices that service only the unit (not a common pipe); then the unit owner above is automatically responsible for the damages. Unit owners sometimes knowinly cause the problem, other times they unknowing cause the problem since they never have their A/C condensor/condensate line serviced, or they never have their 17 yr old hot water heater and the relief valve inspected and/or replaced, and then sometimes it's just a freak accident where a water pipe might freeze up on an outside wall during a hard winter. In any case, our condo docs are quite clear about this so there's no arguments when it comes to trying to determine if the other unit owner is negligence per se. If it's a pipe or device that services only the unit, (not a common pipe), then the unit owner above is responsible (as per the docs). EOS

I like this feature because it puts on onus on the unit owner to maintain their home responsibly.

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