What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania
I purchased a condo in June, and purchased all appliances 'as-is'. 3 weeks ago, my washing machine overflowed (overflow valved stopped working), flooding part of my unit and the 2 units below me. I filed a claim with my insurer, at that point not knowing the extent of the damage. At the same time, we shut off the washer, the water to the machine, etc, and the water stopped flowing. I was also able to mitigate most of the damage to my unit (pulling up carpet padding, renting a carpet/water extractor, etc), so I closed the claim on my unit, bought a new washing machine, dried out my place.
The unit at the very bottom has the most extensive damage. The owner has filed a claim with my insurer, which they have denied, stating that I am not 'legally liable' since I was not negligent (fiddling with pipes, installing a new machine, etc). Since they denied the claim, my neighbor is obviously very upset and wants to know what 'I will do to compensate her, since its not her fault that there was damage to her unit'. My insurer has instructed me that if she takes me to court, that they will defend me, again claiming that I am not liable for the accident. In addition, she does not have her own insurance policy, and she's telling me that even if she did, since its my fault, her policy wouldn't cover her anyway.
My question is this, is my insurance company just trying to get out of paying her claim? Or are they correct in stating that its not my responsibility since it was an accident? This is quickly becoming an uncomfortable situation.
Should I advise the downstairs owner to contact our Condo Association Master Insurance as well, since the water went through the floor?
Thank you in advance to anyone who responds and has taken the time to listen!
(I posted this in the Real Estate Law forum for Condo's as well, but since it is an insurance-question, I thought maybe there would be good insight in this forum as well. Please don't hate a newbie!)
I purchased a condo in June, and purchased all appliances 'as-is'. 3 weeks ago, my washing machine overflowed (overflow valved stopped working), flooding part of my unit and the 2 units below me. I filed a claim with my insurer, at that point not knowing the extent of the damage. At the same time, we shut off the washer, the water to the machine, etc, and the water stopped flowing. I was also able to mitigate most of the damage to my unit (pulling up carpet padding, renting a carpet/water extractor, etc), so I closed the claim on my unit, bought a new washing machine, dried out my place.
The unit at the very bottom has the most extensive damage. The owner has filed a claim with my insurer, which they have denied, stating that I am not 'legally liable' since I was not negligent (fiddling with pipes, installing a new machine, etc). Since they denied the claim, my neighbor is obviously very upset and wants to know what 'I will do to compensate her, since its not her fault that there was damage to her unit'. My insurer has instructed me that if she takes me to court, that they will defend me, again claiming that I am not liable for the accident. In addition, she does not have her own insurance policy, and she's telling me that even if she did, since its my fault, her policy wouldn't cover her anyway.
My question is this, is my insurance company just trying to get out of paying her claim? Or are they correct in stating that its not my responsibility since it was an accident? This is quickly becoming an uncomfortable situation.
Should I advise the downstairs owner to contact our Condo Association Master Insurance as well, since the water went through the floor?
Thank you in advance to anyone who responds and has taken the time to listen!
(I posted this in the Real Estate Law forum for Condo's as well, but since it is an insurance-question, I thought maybe there would be good insight in this forum as well. Please don't hate a newbie!)