Condo Media - June 2014 - 44

by Barbara Reilly

HOMEOWNER COLUMN

'S' Is for Subrogation
Legalese Can Trip Up Homeowners

I

like words. I appreciate their
sounds. I respect the complexities of their spelling. Until
recently, I enjoyed the subtlety
of their meanings. It was
my experience in the ﬁling
of an insurance claim that
brought all of this crashing
down for me. I was defeated by my own condo
documents.
"How could this be?"
you might ask. Certainly, no
one was more surprised than
me when I was undone by a
mighty foe that goes by the term
"legalese."
Let me provide you with just
a bit of background. The toilet
in the unit directly above mine
overﬂowed and caused water
damage in my unit. Our
condo documents require
all owners in my building to
carry a homeowners insurance (HO6) policy. A call to
my representative led to the
ﬁling of a claim for clean up and
damage repair. The insurance
company was accommodating
and action was taken immediately. There was, however, the
matter of the $500 deductible
on my policy.
The representative from my
insurance company informed me
that it would attempt to recover
all costs, including my deductible,
through subrogation. Subrogation
is the process an insurance company
uses to seek reimbursement from
the responsible party for a claim it
has already paid. "No problem," I
thought. "I'm in good hands here."

44

CONDO MEDIA * JUNE 2014

A Messy Situation

Imagine my surprise when, less than
a week later, I received the following
notice from the upstairs owner's insurance company:
"As you are aware, I am acting on
behalf of [redacted] for the reported
water damage to the condo unit located at the above captioned address.
Our investigation revealed that
[redacted] did not have any actual
or constructive notice of a defect in
the bathroom ﬁxture, there were no
reported issues with the ﬁxture, and
the condominium bylaws contain a
waiver of subrogation for any and all
claims against the board of directors
and owners.
[Redacted] have reviewed the
circumstances of the reported claim
and are of the opinion that there is no
liability on behalf of their insured(s) for
the reported damage and no voluntary
payments will be made."
Waiver of subrogation? I checked
the condo docs passage that was
referenced to ﬁnd the following
language: "All policies shall contain a
waiver of subrogation by the insurer
as to any and all claims against the
condominium, the board of directors,
the owners and/or their respective
agents, employees or invitees, and of
any defense based upon co-insurance
or invalidity arising from the acts of
the insured."
Now how could I have missed this
little gem during my reading of the
condo docs, I thought with dripping
sarcasm.
Is it me, or is the meaning of this
passage about as clear as mud to the
average homeowner? Sadly, this is not
the only language in this section that

Condo Media - June 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - June 2014

Condo Media - June 2014
Table of Contents
From the CED’s Desk
Editorial Board
CAI News
CAI Regional News
Asked & Answered
Homeowner’s Corner
Legal
Something in the Water
Vendor Spotlight
Energy
Security
Homeowner’s Column
Legislative Update
Self-Managed Association Boards
Classified Service Directory
Advertisers Index
Condo Media - June 2014 - BB1
Condo Media - June 2014 - BB2
Condo Media - June 2014 - Condo Media - June 2014
Condo Media - June 2014 - Cover2
Condo Media - June 2014 - Table of Contents
Condo Media - June 2014 - From the CED’s Desk
Condo Media - June 2014 - 3
Condo Media - June 2014 - Editorial Board
Condo Media - June 2014 - 5
Condo Media - June 2014 - CAI News
Condo Media - June 2014 - 7
Condo Media - June 2014 - 8
Condo Media - June 2014 - 9
Condo Media - June 2014 - 10
Condo Media - June 2014 - 11
Condo Media - June 2014 - 12
Condo Media - June 2014 - 13
Condo Media - June 2014 - CAI Regional News
Condo Media - June 2014 - 15
Condo Media - June 2014 - 16
Condo Media - June 2014 - 17
Condo Media - June 2014 - 18
Condo Media - June 2014 - 19
Condo Media - June 2014 - 20
Condo Media - June 2014 - 21
Condo Media - June 2014 - Asked & Answered
Condo Media - June 2014 - 23
Condo Media - June 2014 - Homeowner’s Corner
Condo Media - June 2014 - 25
Condo Media - June 2014 - Legal
Condo Media - June 2014 - 27
Condo Media - June 2014 - Something in the Water
Condo Media - June 2014 - 29
Condo Media - June 2014 - 30
Condo Media - June 2014 - 31
Condo Media - June 2014 - 32
Condo Media - June 2014 - 33
Condo Media - June 2014 - Vendor Spotlight
Condo Media - June 2014 - 35
Condo Media - June 2014 - Energy
Condo Media - June 2014 - 37
Condo Media - June 2014 - 38
Condo Media - June 2014 - 39
Condo Media - June 2014 - Security
Condo Media - June 2014 - 41
Condo Media - June 2014 - 42
Condo Media - June 2014 - 43
Condo Media - June 2014 - Homeowner’s Column
Condo Media - June 2014 - 45
Condo Media - June 2014 - Legislative Update
Condo Media - June 2014 - 47
Condo Media - June 2014 - Self-Managed Association Boards
Condo Media - June 2014 - 49
Condo Media - June 2014 - Classified Service Directory
Condo Media - June 2014 - Advertisers Index
Condo Media - June 2014 - 52
Condo Media - June 2014 - 53
Condo Media - June 2014 - 54
Condo Media - June 2014 - 55
Condo Media - June 2014 - 56
Condo Media - June 2014 - 57
Condo Media - June 2014 - 58
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