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Auto damage while parked at condo

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J

jbwerfl

Guest
What is the name of your state? Florida
I've had two incidents with my auto. Once while parked behind the building, it was downwind of an overzealous handyman with a can of spray paint and became covered with white paint spots, and once while parked in the underground garage it was dripped on by some rusty crud leaking from an overhead pipe. Both times it required bodyshop work to restore the vehicle.

I paid the spray paint cleanup without complaining, but I presented the bill for the pipe incident to the condo manager. She checked with the Association board (she says) and was told that I park at my own risk, so they are not responsible. Since it wasn't an act of God, nature, or another resident, but their negligence that caused the damage in both incidents, I suspect that they are responsible but are unwilling to accept it.

The condo bylaw makes no mention of this stuff, but a sign on the garage wall states "Park at your own risk". Any thoughts?
I'm a little concerned about this becoming an ongoing problem.
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
jbwerfl said:
What is the name of your state? Florida
I've had two incidents with my auto. Once while parked behind the building, it was downwind of an overzealous handyman with a can of spray paint and became covered with white paint spots, and once while parked in the underground garage it was dripped on by some rusty crud leaking from an overhead pipe. Both times it required bodyshop work to restore the vehicle.

I paid the spray paint cleanup without complaining, but I presented the bill for the pipe incident to the condo manager. She checked with the Association board (she says) and was told that I park at my own risk, so they are not responsible. Since it wasn't an act of God, nature, or another resident, but their negligence that caused the damage in both incidents, I suspect that they are responsible but are unwilling to accept it.

The condo bylaw makes no mention of this stuff, but a sign on the garage wall states "Park at your own risk". Any thoughts?
I'm a little concerned about this becoming an ongoing problem.

**A: did you file a claim with your insurance carrier?
 
J

jbwerfl

Guest
Yes, for the spraypaint damage because the repairs exceeded my insurance deductible (I carry a $200 deductible), the insurance company paid the balance.

No, for the pipe drip damage, the repair was less than $200.
 

JETX

Senior Member
Seems that theses incidents have somehow gotten reversed in liability.

The original incident (overspray) would clearly have been the responsibility of the apartment management (or their hired painter). This overspray paint was due to negligence on the painters part they should have been responsible for the damages that you assumed.

However, in this latest loss, the liability isn't as clear. If the damage from the leaky pipe was due to their negligence, then they should be liable for the repairs. However, if the leak was not negligence, then your insurance should cover it under the comprehensive policy.... and your comprehension deductible should be more like the more normal $50 deductible.
 
J

jbwerfl

Guest
Yes, I can see your point, and do agree somewhat, since the spray painting was active, not passive negligence. But, at the time of the spray painting, I didn't catch anybody in the act. My recollection was that the car sat unused for several days before I saw the overspray. Nobody was standing nearby with a can of spray paint at that point, and they didn't spray paint their name on the car, so although I wasn't happy about it, I was still in a mood to be neighborly, so I quietly had it fixed. I guess that was my mistake. Alternatively, the pipe drip damage undeniably came from the pipe, but at best it was passive negligence. And it wasn't until this second event that I started getting a bit peeved,
so that's when I began thinking I shouldn't continue to bear these costs alone and quietly. The first incident was last June, the second was last week.

As a comparative issue, I live on the 15th floor, and if pipes leak in my unit and cause damage to my neighbor on 14, it's my understanding that I am responsible for repairing my neighbor's damage. I have insurance to cover this possibility. Is this that much different?

My concern is that I suspect the Association will claim immunity from responsibility for just about anything since they posted a sign stating "Park at your own risk". My hunch is, they would have denied responsibility for the overspray too, but I never tested them on this. To prepare myself for the next event, I'm trying to gather some knowledge about this type of liability generally... I guess ultimately I'm trying to figure out under what circumstances, if any, it would be worthwhile to go to small claims court to recover damages.

I thought a $200 deductible on comprehensive was pretty standard. But I'll check into lowering it at least while I'm living here... Thanks.
 

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