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Property damage liability

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bud1741

Guest
What is the name of your state? Minnesota

I am being sued by my neighbor who lives in the unit below me in our condominium complex.

One day my water heater unexpectantly broke and leaked water everywhere causing damage to her apartment. The water heater is in a room with a drain, but I guess the drain goes strait down to my neighbor's unit.

The association will pay for all her damages above the $3,000 insurance deductible, which is what she is suing me for.

One week before this incident I had had my condo (including the water heater) inspected. The inspector stated that the water heater was missing a drip T-valve (I do not know what this does and do not know how to find out). He did not advise that I replace/repair anything. I would like to have the inspector at the hearing, but ironically he is related to the plantiff (my neighbor) and I am afraid his testimony may be biased.

In addition, my condo association had sent out a letter before this event stating that the association insurance deductible was increasing to $3,000 and that it was each unit owner's responsibility to make sure that their personal insurance (for items within the unit) covered this deductible. My neighbor did nothing about this and of course her insurance does not cover the deductible. Can I use her failure to act as any type of defense?

Otherwise I am trying to argue that I was not negligent since I in no way could have known my water heater would break- do I have a case?
 


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bud1741

Guest
My neighbor submitted a claim against my personal property insurance and they denied her claim stating that I was not liable (I have the denial letter to bring to court).

Our homeowners insurance is the insurance provided through the association with the $3,000 deductible. To be honest, I don't think that the association actually made a claim (so the insurance company may not even know about the damage?) for this situation because they did not feel the dollar amount was high enough for whatever reason. So the association paid for the damages out of whatever funds they have and they made my neighbor pay the deductible.
 
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