need some serious urgent advices

[mooncancook]

Here's the situation:
my mother-in-law lives in a 3rd floor condo. The toilet flooded the bathroom and water leaked downstair and caused some damages that will be expensive to repair. She doesn't have home insurance while downstair neighbor does.

What's the best action to take now?
1. deal with downstair neighbor directly for the repair?
or
2. let the downstair neighbor's insurance comany handle it?
or
any other suggestions?

 

[Bryophyte]

Downstairs neighbor's insurance company might very well come after your MIL after paying for the damage. Your MIL probably thought she was saving some money by not paying for homeowner's insurance. She has proven herself wrong. Good luck.

 

[mooncancook]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
Downstairs neighbor's insurance company might very well come after your MIL after paying for the damage. Your MIL probably thought she was saving some money by not paying for homeowner's insurance. She has proven herself wrong. Good luck.

so the best choice is do deal with the neighbor for the repair directly instead of having it going thru their insurance company?

 

[Ulfwald]

the downstairs home owner will probably file with his insurance, and then if he has a deductable, sue your MIL for that, then his ins company can subrogate, or come after your MIL, for anything they feel they are entitled to recover. It depends on your state laws. Also, tell you MIL to quit being stupid and get insurance.

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: mooncancook

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
Downstairs neighbor's insurance company might very well come after your MIL after paying for the damage. Your MIL probably thought she was saving some money by not paying for homeowner's insurance. She has proven herself wrong. Good luck.

so the best choice is do deal with the neighbor for the repair directly instead of having it going thru their insurance company?

The right thing to do is to take responsibility for things that are your fault. If you're asking what *might* be the cheapest route, I would guess letting insurance take care of it and hope like hell that they won't go after her for the damages. Truth is, she'll probably end up getting sued by insurance for the money anyway (including lawyer/court costs for the lawsuit) and either end up paying directly or getting a lein put on her home. If you're asking what the *right* thing to do is, she needs to go to her neighbor and work with them to fix the problem that she caused. The thing about being an adult is that you need to take responsibility for your actions even if it's not convenient for you.

 

[mooncancook]

Originally posted by: Ulfwald
the downstairs home owner will probably file with his insurance, and then if he has a deductable, sue your MIL for that, then his ins company can subrogate, or come after your MIL, for anything they feel they are entitled to recover. It depends on your state laws. Also, tell you MIL to quit being stupid and get insurance.

I thought the same. Costly lesson.

 

[DBL]

The condo itself should have insurance which covers anything outside of each owner?s walls. They also probably explicitly state that you must carry your own insurance to cover your own mishaps and mistakes. Was the clog her fault? I think that would determine if she is responsible or the Condo? Either way, not carrying insurance (which is dirt cheap) is not too smart.

 

[mooncancook]

Originally posted by: DBL
The condo itself should have insurance which covers anything outside of each owner?s walls. They also probably explicitly state that you must carry your own insurance to cover your own mishaps and mistakes. Was the clog her fault? I think that would determine if she is responsible or the Condo? Either way, not carrying insurance (which is dirt cheap) is not too smart.

the clog is unknown. It was caused by the flap in the toilet tank getting stuck open (possibly for several hours). when we found out, the overflowing has disappeared already, just leaving the bathroom floor flooded.