What type of attorney do I need

[girdyourloins]

My condo hot water heater flooded the condo below me. My insurance is dragging their feet and the owner below me is threatening to sue me if he’s not paid by the 10th of this month. I think I also need to fight my HOA because they say I was negligent because I didn’t let them into my unit for an inspection which is not true. I’m worried if I don’t get an attorney involved they can come after me for other things because of this negligent statement.
All the attorneys I search are injury attorneys.

 

[adrian99]

@girdyourloins This completely depends on where you live. In Illinois, this is governed by the Illinois Property Condominium Act. Your state may be different obviously. A lawyer is not going to be a whole lot of help if the law says one thing or the other.

There is going to be several layers of insurance: Your policy; the downstairs unit owner policy; and the master condo policy. PLUS you have issues with hold harmless agreements within the condo owners policies. Therefore, talk to your own carrier and get them to help you out here. Condo law is extremely state dependent and not intuitive. Good luck OP>

 

[christiankaye]

@girdyourloins If they filed through their insurance it should be handled between the two companies. They need to stop harassing you about it. Let your HOA know.

 

[randytheoldguy]

@girdyourloins Why is the person below you not filing with their own carrier?

 

[girdyourloins]

@randytheoldguy They did and he said they only paid 10,000. Of a 19,000.00

 

[randytheoldguy]

@girdyourloins And why is that? He can't just demand money from you. If his carrier felt you were negligent they would have attempted to subrogate against your company. If that hasn't happened the question becomes, why die he only have 10k in coverage from his company? Also, just provide his communication/demands to your carrier.

 

[girdyourloins]

@randytheoldguy I have sent his letter and his bill to start another claim. It was just a document he typed up with no bills etc. I’m just really worried he will come up with something else in a few months.

 

[girdyourloins]

Also, the bills are starting to come in and my insurance is not communicating anything and it’s been over a month.

 

[orangepatriot]

@girdyourloins Just forward the communication you’ve received to your carrier. It’s their problem to deal with this. Even if you get sued your insurance may have a duty to defend and hire an attorney for you at their expense.

I’d also send the adjuster information to the HOA and neighbor and explicitly state to not contact you further regarding this issue as you have reported it to your carrier and they are handling it on your behalf.

Also, do not pay these people out of pocket as that will not protect you from further harassment. Insurance companies have people sign off on documents that protect you. Without this, you would basically be throwing your money away.

Has coverage been confirmed?
Has your adjuster said anything regarding liability?

 

[girdyourloins]

@orangepatriot Thank you for this info! I only know that the adjuster is still working on my damage claim and I have not received anything as of yet.
I have another policy that I filed the liability with when I received the neighbors threatening letter.

 

[jesus%E2%9D%A4%EF%B8%8Fandwantsthebest4u]

@girdyourloins You do not hire a lawyer, you pay insurance for these type of things. If the impatient neighbor is going to sue you all you do is present the information to your insurer and they will handle accordingly. Sounds like the neighbor is trying to scare you into paying for something. Also, he can always go and file a claim with his insurer as well and they can subrogate against your insurer. Him threatening to sue because he thinks the claims process is taking too long is not going to speed up the claims process at all. The adjuster has to investigate to make sure that your water heater caused the damage, the COA master policy does not provide coverage, and then evaluate the damages. Next time he threatens you tell him he can talk to the insurance company there is nothing you can do.

 

[girdyourloins]

@jesus%E2%9D%A4%EF%B8%8Fandwantsthebest4u Thank you. I have never been in a situation like this before and it’s very stressful knowing so many people are wanting money from you.