The community insurance are probably the most widely used in our day-to-day lives, together with home insurance. These policies are responsible for resolving conflicts between neighbours that usually arise in the event of water damage (damp, leaks, filtrations...), in which it is not known who is responsible. But, to what extent does it cover the assumptions? What is and what is not covered by the community insurance? Let's look at the keys.
The loss ratio in community water damage insurance policies
According to data from different companies,
When a damage occurs in a common area of the community of owners, in the 60% of the cases we are dealing with water-related issues.
In home insurance we would speak of a 30% The accident rate resulting from these issues.
We will now explain how to act in the event of damp or leaks, and what guarantees will be used to cover the claim.
The origin of these claims
When dampness or leaks appear in a neighbour's house or in communal areas, they should be reported as soon as possible in order to locate the source of the leak.
The most important thing is this: to find whose pipe or terrace is causing the damage. This will be the key to start solving the incident.
We see the 3 types of claims that can happen to us, and how to deal with each of them → who responds?, who covers it?
Private pipelines
If we talk about a private (one-storey) pipingThe owner will always be the one who will have to repair the leak, your home insurance. Then, depending on the damage, it will be repaired in one way or another:
- If it is in common areas: the damage can be repaired by the homeowner's insurance, through the Civil Liability cover; or the community insurance can repair the damage in the community, and between the companies the “guilty” company will be the one to finance the expenses incurred.
- If it is in private areas: if the damage arises in the same flat where the leak occurs, the damages will be repaired or compensated by the water damage cover. On the other hand, if it affects another neighbour, the claim is resolved in the same way as with the community, the affected party will be able to repair the damage with their home insurance policy and claim against the company that caused the damage, or the latter will be responsible for everything.
Community pipelines
If we are talking about the problem being a downspout or community pipeline, would be similar to what we have explained above, except that it is the community's insurance company that must repair the source and bear the cost of the associated expenses.
In short, the most important thing to know is that we must find out whose pipe is causing the damage. The person responsible for it will be the one who will bear the costs of repairing all the damage caused by the leak.
Downspouts
Does insurance cover downspouts? It should be borne in mind that the downpipes of the building are a common element and that it is the community of owners who should be responsible for their maintenance and for any damage they cause.
Atmospheric phenomena
The last option is that this leakage could have been caused by weather issues. In this case it would be necessary to see where the water is coming from. If it is through a terrace, it is normally the community insurance that should take care of it.
It will be necessary to see if the minimum limits are exceeded to cover possible damage to the terrace; unless there is gross negligence, damage caused to the penthouse, for example, would be covered by the Civil Liability guarantee.
The danger of sub-limits in water damage coverages
Having explained all possible scenarios, we have to be aware of the existence of a lot of small print In this case, the risk is in the insurance companies. sub-limits for water damage or Water Damage Liability.
It is possible that we have €600,000 of Public Liability underwritten, but the small print of the policy speaks of a sub-limit for water damage of €150,000. It is important to check this and always contract with a company that:
- Or do not sublimate this water damage.
- Or sublimate it, but not too little.
We have to be aware that we cannot know the value of the contents of each house. It is possible that all the furniture may be from Ikea or that there may be valuable furniture and Persian rugs. Therefore, our advice will always be that water damage cover should be at least €300,000. We advise against sub-limits below this amount.
Just the other day we saw an Allianz policy, in this case, €46,500 sub-limit for water damage, which is totally insufficient.
