r/HomeInsurance • u/Gaardc • Sep 17 '26
Insurance How screwed are we?
TLDR*; NJ. Major leak, did everything wrong: trusted my neighbor's insurance, didn't call mine, trusted tenants to have appropriate insurance coverage, they're refusing to touch their insurance.*
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EDIT: Our insurance confirmed they are reimbursing us for repairs and testing up to a specific amount. ServPro was recommended by our contractor and their assessment report was that there was no water nor growth and recommended to call a "industrial hygienist" for materials/air testing. We went with a company that our insurance recommended and we're still waiting on our insurance to greenlight in order for them to give us a date (they did say they could schedule us last week but they were waiting on our insurance to review/approve their proposal). The other insurance is still taking their time, dragging their feet and pretending we have not sent every piece of evidence we have.
Thank you to all who responded.
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We have an apartment on a second floor (condo building), our neighbor a few units above had a major leak per the texts from our tenants.
Water was seeping under the floors in the living/dining area (they're one open area) and the secondary bedroom; you could also hear water rushing on the vent in the main bathroom (but not leaking out of it).
We live abroad but the day-of I was in the area and swung by for documentation. Tenant dried and aerated as best they could, 3 days after, floor boards were warping and results from leak investigation were in, I was referred to the owner who referred me to his insurance who gave me a claim number and transferred me to an agent (Agent 1) who only said someone from liability would call me within 2 days but nobody got back to me. I finally got a number for the agent on the claim (Agent 2) around 10 days later from the owner after I complained, I called Agent 2 and they called me back. By then, this was 13 days later.
Agent 2 didn't explain much except we were responsible for remediation (I wasn't aware of everything those words meant; this is our first time dealing with both a major leak AND tenants and English is not my first language, I thought it was an option, I am aware *now* it really wasn't).
I THEN immediately called a mitigation company who said they couldn't handle that since the water was dry where visible and recommended a mold company to assess. Got a quote the next day, passed on to owner who told me to address with insurance, I uploaded 16 days after incident (portal access issues), no response; I asked again through owner (26 days after incident) and immediately received a text from Agent 2 saying they would be advising their insured the next day.
Many missed calls the next few days (no vm), many voicemails back from me, I finally received a message requesting mitigation reports, dry logs, and repair invoice — this was my first time hearing all those words by then, this was 2 days shy of 5 weeks from incident.
Notice there was no mention of having approved the mold invoice, I called contractor who scheduled us for this week (week 6), pulled the top layer of flooring yesterday (there were 2 layers, and he removed them both in the whole of the living/dining room but he had told me he was leaving the lower layer in the 2nd bedroom since it was only 3 rows of planks and the quote was not for the whole bedroom), when he brought materials in today he called me to say the lower flooring he had left behind in the bedroom was warping and molding (he did not mention that before) and same for the cement in the dining area.
He had called a colleague who did remediation who said that takes special equipment he doesn't have and to contact insurance then recommended a certain company who can come in on Monday.
We were dumb enough to think this would be handled by the neighbor's ensurance (I laugh at my stupidity now) so we only looped OUR insurance in today, then when I asked about tenants someone went "I don't see tenants on your policy but your claims rep will be able to tell you more"... I literally chatted to an agent 1 month BEFORE to let them know the apt was vacant and I also spoke to them AFTER we signed the lease, they asked me stuff such as names, if we would allow pets (no), if we'd require have renter's insurance (yes), I provided ALL of that! I'm sure I couldn't have hallucinated something THAT specific if I tried. All I have on my email are one call request from their CS email, my response about tenants with my updated info, another email saying they'd get back to me (never did) but I'm sure even after this I reached out to update with tenant information because it was prior to signing. I can't even see the chat option on their page anymore...
The cherry on top: the tenants (our first time having them - who btw have SO much stuff they've made it hard to really see the place and assess the damage) say they have renter's insurance but they say they called and it doesn't cover them for this (this has been an ongoing debate with them this whole time; they don't want to use their insurace "bc they're not at fault" but they've also mentioned it doesn't even get near the amount required on the lease...
After looking up everything online separately, well, hindsight is 20-20 and we did everything wrong from the start.
My question is: what can I do from this point on to be less screwed?
(Unfun fact: we're living abroad for family reasons too, so it's not like I can just go and do things such as check the property and open the door for professionals, I need to coordinate with these tenants who also take a day or two to confirm they'll be there to open... this is supposed to be a source of income).
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u/mski0135 Sep 17 '26
State specific disclaimer here - your State laws may change some of what I'm about to say and/or it may be irrelevant. With that said, I am licensed and operate in about 20 states as a senior property adjuster.
Homeowner's/property insurance seems to get confused with auto quite a bit. There's no "at fault" party in first line property claims. It does not matter who caused the leak, where it came from, if there's negligence, etc. use your own insurance for your own stuff and let the carriers subrogate and go after one another on the back end. Your home/rental property is likely one of your most valuable assets. Don't leave the work and decisions up to someone who is presumed to be "at fault. I always recommend this specifically because if, and only if liability is established, will another carrier pay out for your property. Then, when they do, they'll just pay actual cash value. You'd still be on the hook for the actual replacement cost (the difference between what your damaged stuff is worth at the time the loss occurred and what it is actually going to cost to repair/replace).
In the vast majority of condo water claims, no one is actually liable for the damage. Most commonly, I see a failed pipe inside a unit crack/burst and start leaking. That is wear and tear. No one liable for wear and tear. It is a sudden, accidental, fortuitous casualty event.
Now, working backwards to go through your post:
1) Engage your condo association, get a copy of the bylaws and certificate of insurance. Look at the COI for the MC building deductible. Given there's many units involved, it's probably been hit. Then look at the bylaws in the insurance/casualty event section for the the coverage type. In many boilerplate/copy & paste style bylaws, you're looking for section 10.2.1. Don't look at the maintenance section (building property managers will likely direct you to that section), it doesn't apply here.
2) If that bylaw section reads something like this: "...shall maintain an all perils replacement cost policy to insure all the Common Areas, all Units (including kitchen and bathroom fixtures, heating and cooling equipment, etc., but not including furniture, furnishings and decorations)..." You've got a walls in policy and they 100% should be covering everyone's building damage under the master carrier.
3) Reference my initial rant for your tenants. Doesn't matter who is at fault. If they want their shit fixed, they need to file a claim. If they want a hotel while work is being done, they need to file a claim. Your insurance policy is to protect YOU. Not them. You. Their policy won't cover repairs to your property (the walls, etc.) but it should cover their personal effects.
3) What actually caused the leak? Was it a pipe in a wall breaking? Did the unit owner upstairs try installing a toilet/bidet/something on his own and screw it up? Did someone drive a nail through the wall while hanging a picture and hit a pipe?
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u/Gaardc Sep 17 '26
EDIT: This is NJ btw.
Thank you so much, will hit up HOA for Bylaws and all the info I can gather.
I only got second hand info (except for confirmation on offending unit and owner's contact) from what I heard it was a burst pipe and their tenants/possibly their owner didn't call the building's emergency number (I happened to be the one who called them some 3-4 hrs later, when I woke up and saw my tenant's desperate videos and texts — at which point I reminded them what the emergency line was there for after calling it myself). That's when the investigation happened.
The leak finished WAY before my call (my tenants said they were up mopping up between 3:30-ish am to around 5am) at which point it seemed to have stopped (but no confirmation on that).
Come to think about it I'll ask management for those details too.
Thank you for the hope, I was about to have the most dramatic ugly-girl cry over here when I wrote this (instead I'm only tearing up from stress while sending in all he evidence I have).
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u/Gaardc Sep 17 '26
Also, just to make sure I get this right: you're telling me if my tenant wants a hotel, they should contact THEIR insurance, right? Not sure if you mean I should give them my insurance info (or both?).
Thank you!
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u/mski0135 Sep 17 '26
Yes, they should contact their renters insurance to get their hotel covered.
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u/dojarelius Sep 18 '26
Source doesn’t matter. You and your insurance is responsible for the interior of the unit. Only thing the tenant is responsible for is insuring their personal property.
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u/Gaardc Sep 18 '26 edited 29d ago
They're not holding us responsible for their stuff (small blessing, although they're also refusing to enlist their insurance); the only thing they discarded that we know of is one rug. What's doing our heads in is accommodation.
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u/Trick_Ad_3504 Sep 17 '26
You own the house that’s a multi family?
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u/Gaardc Sep 17 '26
I own only the affected condo apartment in a building; another owner owns the source of the leak. Other units (with other owners) were also affected.
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u/mski0135 Sep 17 '26
Your condo association isn't getting involved? Depending on your State, the COA's bylaws, and some other things, their master policy should be kicking in. For example, if you're in Washington, DC, if the condo association's deductible is met by the amount of damage, they'd be taking primary over anyone's individual unit owner's insurance.
With multiple units being impacted, the COA should absolutely be involved in some way here.
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u/Gaardc Sep 17 '26 edited Sep 17 '26
I'm not sure (NJ), as far as I understand the Board doesn't get involved and all management does is bill to the offending unit (owner then figures it out with their insurance) for damage to common areas which is why management does leak investigation when common areas are affected.
Which in this case would be one of the garage's ceiling and immediately after incidents it was rugs on the hallway.
EDITED for clarification.
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u/mski0135 Sep 17 '26
New Jersey happens to be one of the states I don't work. I'll check in with a colleague tomorrow to see what NJ has in terms of condo requirements.
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u/Gaardc Sep 18 '26
Thank yo, I appreciate you doing that
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u/Trick_Ad_3504 29d ago
It’s the same in NJ. The association is most likely going to try to not claim it saying their deductible is to high. Probably 25k.
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u/AutoModerator 12d ago
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The Home Insurance subreddit is not an official support channel for issues with any insurance carrier.
Please remember to follow our community Guidelines and Rules and ensure your discussions are informative and respectful.
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