I live in NorCal/Bay Area in a condo on the first floor of a two story condo building. I recently had water damage coming from the unit above. The unit owner tenant said the toilet tank cracked making the owner liable. But now after the third water damage issue since I moved here less than 5 years ago, the owner is not providing his insurance once again. My insurance has kicked in provided a payout based on the estimate of cost to repair the unit bathroom. But after getting three quotes from restoration companies, the payout from my insurance seems underpaid. Not to mention, my insurance is not making a attempt to subrogate the claim cost since they closed the claim after pay out.
Claim payout for mitigation and restore:~$5k estimate
Mitigation quotes : ~$2k -$5k (3 quotes)
Restoration: ~$5K (1 quote)
So my questions :
•is there a way to get the insurance to pay more into the claim?
•If the insurance company doesn’t subrogate the cost, when I sue for the cost, do that money have to go back to the insurance ?
•I think small claims is the easiest route for this claim but I need insurance info, would civil court be better?
•If I need to wait for owner to fix his toilet, can I sue for mitigation part first without the restoration completed?
Posted by Left-Risk-8741
4 Comments
Did you send the bids to the insurance company for supplement?
Did you ask the insurance company if they plan to subrogate?
“Is there a way to get insurance to pay more?”
No
If you sue and win then you get the money not your insurance but I wouldn’t recommend this as it is a waste of time and money. Even if you win a judgement they don’t necessarily pay, if ever.
“would civil court be better?”
No
You can sue for anything but it is best for the courts to have it finished/completed.
ETA: your last question is more legal than insurance related.
First you have to commit to a contractor or repair bid. Once you sign a contract then you are committing to the repair cost. It’s like a chicken vs the egg scenario. You don’t want to commit until you get commitment for coverage. Here’s the things, get your carrier to send out their preferred contractor (they usually have pre-negotiated pricing) let them work you up an estimate. Compare that one to the ones you have. Then make a decision on a repair method. That will give them a baseline for your supplement. They will look at the signed contract and the bases for the supplement and advise you of your supplement approval. Here is the tricky part, a lot of condo policies are ACV (Actual Cash Value) but in CA if I believe (and don’t quote me) that depreciation is not allowed, if so and you see it removed on your settlement. Demand that be released first. Now they probably have not subrogated yet because they are waiting for your claim to be completed. But that’s a guess. Hope this helps. I’ve handled many condo claims in CA over years so I try to pass on some info if I can.
Civil court is only worth it if the amount is big enough. For 5-10k, small claims is usually easier and you don’t need a lawyer. Just make sure you have solid documentation from the restoration companies