Am I Responsible for the Deductible?

[xlix]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

In January of this year, we incurred water damage in our townhouse due to a frozen waterpipe that had burst. We were away from our home when the incident happened, and a neighbor that noticed water flowing through the garage called the fire dept. We happened to return home as well at around the same time. Fortunately, the damage was not very bad. There was damage to the bath vanity, bathroom flooring, and few portions of some walls. The fire dept personnel advised us to call and inform the association immediately. Accordingly, we informed the person in-charge at the association, who later made arrangements with a construction firm to come and attend to the damage. The construction firm removed the vanity and fixed the broken pipe, but did not attend to anything else, saying that they need the go-ahead from the association's insurance company. The construction firm personnel also made a comment that they noticed similar water damage in other houses that had the same model, and attributed to poor insulation within the walls. About a month later, a person from the insurance company came home to assess the damage, and about 3 weeks after this, the construction firm completed the rest of the work.

About 3 months after all of this had happened, we received a letter from the association saying that they need us to pay $1000 towards the deductible for this water damage incident. This came as a complete surprise to us, since at no point of time prior to this, did the association personnel ever let us know that we were responsible for any amount at all.

Are they not required to inform us of this prior to fixing the damage? Also, if they need to make us liable for the deductible, are they not required to show and get an approval from us on the total cost, prior to incurring the expense? (that might have at least given us the option of considering other avenues of fixing the damage). We raised some of these questions to the association personnel that we had been interacting with all along, and she has scheduled a hearing for us in front of the association board.

Personally, it does not seem fair to me that we are being asked to pay now, without being let know earlier. More importantly, if the association had deemed that the house owner was to pay for the deductible, it only seems fair that they should have at the very least run the quote for fixing the damage by us before actually embarking on the job, so that we might have had an opportunity to see if there were lower cost options out there.

Would really appreciate views and advise from experts on this forum. Thanks so much.

Reply With QuoteWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by xlix

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

In January of this year, we incurred water damage in our townhouse due to a frozen waterpipe that had burst. We were away from our home when the incident happened, and a neighbor that noticed water flowing through the garage called the fire dept. We happened to return home as well at around the same time. Fortunately, the damage was not very bad. There was damage to the bath vanity, bathroom flooring, and few portions of some walls. The fire dept personnel advised us to call and inform the association immediately. Accordingly, we informed the person in-charge at the association, who later made arrangements with a construction firm to come and attend to the damage. The construction firm removed the vanity and fixed the broken pipe, but did not attend to anything else, saying that they need the go-ahead from the association's insurance company. The construction firm personnel also made a comment that they noticed similar water damage in other houses that had the same model, and attributed to poor insulation within the walls. About a month later, a person from the insurance company came home to assess the damage, and about 3 weeks after this, the construction firm completed the rest of the work.

About 3 months after all of this had happened, we received a letter from the association saying that they need us to pay $1000 towards the deductible for this water damage incident. This came as a complete surprise to us, since at no point of time prior to this, did the association personnel ever let us know that we were responsible for any amount at all.

Are they not required to inform us of this prior to fixing the damage? Also, if they need to make us liable for the deductible, are they not required to show and get an approval from us on the total cost, prior to incurring the expense? (that might have at least given us the option of considering other avenues of fixing the damage). We raised some of these questions to the association personnel that we had been interacting with all along, and she has scheduled a hearing for us in front of the association board.

Personally, it does not seem fair to me that we are being asked to pay now, without being let know earlier. More importantly, if the association had deemed that the house owner was to pay for the deductible, it only seems fair that they should have at the very least run the quote for fixing the damage by us before actually embarking on the job, so that we might have had an opportunity to see if there were lower cost options out there.

Would really appreciate views and advise from experts on this forum. Thanks so much.

Reply With QuoteWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Your negligence caused the problem. Of course you owe.

[HomeGuru]

[quote=xlix;2320605]What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois


Personally, it does not seem fair to me that we are being asked to pay now, without being let know earlier.

**A: I guess you could say that you were not fair since you never asked the HOA if you needed to pay at the time.