who is responsible for my deductible ?

What is the name of your state? NJ

*this is being double posted in Condos and Co-Ops and also under homeowners insurance as I'm not sure which is the correct forum*


I bought my 5th floor condo in May,2004 in a building that was constructed in 1965. At that time we had all the carpet replaced with Pergo laminate flooring.

Last Sunday it was raining very hard, and I noticed water all over the floor in my son's room. I mopped up the water, and later noticed that the entire floor was begining to warp. I, initally, thought the water was coming from the HVAC unit, however when the same thing happened on Tuesday, I called the building's super and he came and told me that the water was coming from a crack in the brick facade of the building, down between the exterior wall and my sheetrock, and then under the floor. When you walk in the room, the water seeps up from between the floor boards, however there is no visible water anymore.

I contacted the management company for the condo, and they told me to contact my homeowners insurance, and not to tell them the water is coming from outside, but rather from a busted pipe. I actually told the insurance that I was unsure as to WHERE the water was actually coming from, but that it only happened when it rained.

My homeowners insurance will be paying to replace the floors (approx $7k). The super came by yesterday and "caulked" the hole/crack - and told me it was fixed.

Now my questions:

why did the management company want me to lie to my insurance co ? would it have made a difference in how the claim was handled ? or is it just a way to cover their A$$ ?

I don't believe that the "caulking" is an adequate repair, and that in a few months we may have this issue again. Is there any way to 'force' the building to fix it properly ?

who is responsible for the $500.00 deductible ?
(I've never owned/had homeowners/made a claim before) - but if it's anything like auto insurance, if I'm not at fault, the insurance co. has subrogated (sp?) on my behalf and gotten my deductible back from the at fault party - does this work the same way ?

I had a similar problem in my condo about a year ago. In my case, the condo association was responsible for the damage. You would need to read the bi-laws of your condo association. In my case, the building structure was covered by the condo associations policy, and my home owners policy is more like "renters insurance" and covers my personal property within the condo.
I would ask your insurance adjuster to look at your bi-laws and see who the responisble party would be...it should be outlined clearly in that document.

Condo Deductible Concerns

Due to the fact that the water damaged an improvement in your unit (Pergo Floors) this would usally be covered under your policy. The Condos policy only covers the common areas of the building, sometimes up to and including the unfinished sheetrock inside your unit . The reason they told you to say a pipe broke, was that water coming in from a maintenance problem such as a non caulked wall or window would not be covered under your policy.

As far as the deductible goes, it does work the same as auto , if your company subrogated against another and collected their money back you would get your deductible back. In this case I doubt that this will happen as they would have to prove that someone else caused your damage.