I live in a condo built in 1972. I've lived there for about 5 years.The condominium's CC&Rs (which date back to 1972) require the HOA board to purchase hazard insurance for all "improvements" to the "project" ("project" is defined in the CC&Rs as the entire real property including all structures thereon), with the exception of "tenants' improvements."
In August of this year, the cartridge in my kitchen faucet went bad and my kitchen sustained water damage to the cabinets, drywall, and hardwood floor. I made a claim on my HO-6 policy. My HO-6 insurance denied the claim (at least tentatively) based on its interpretation of the CC&Rs being that the HOA master insurance is the primary insurance responsible for all original specifications ("improvements") to the complex while the HO-6 is the primary insurance responsible for all tenant improvements (i.e. improvements/betterments made by the owner to the unit). For purposes of my question here, at least, I will assume my HO-6 insurance company's interpretation of the CC&Rs is correct.
So, clearly the next logical question(s) are (1) which damaged items/materials in my unit have been there since 1972 and (2) which were added by the previous owners during the 40-year period prior to my purchasing the property. After several days of trying to obtain this information from the adjuster, I was provided an answer: they don't know.
Another question I had for the adjuster is what informational resources were at their disposal to determine whether damaged items in my unit were original to the structure or added later. His answer: me and public records. So I wanted to know what the public records revealed. I still have yet to receive an answer to this question, but was advised that these "public records" consist of Zillow and Redfin. Really? In the adjuster's most recent email to me, he advised (for the first time) that the HOA should have documents which detail the original specifications of the unit.
So, in sum, my claim has been denied on the basis that the HO-6 is the primary insurance for tenants' improvements only. At the time of denying my claim, the insurance company had no idea whether any of the damage in my unit was to "tenant improvements" or original materials (and, by the way, I strongly suspect that at least the hardwood floor was added by a previous owner). Its efforts to distinguish between the two were limited to searches on Zillow and Redfin which, predictably, revealed nothing. And further, it knows, or suspects, that there are documents in possession of the HOA which would specify what the original specifications of my unit are, but has made no effort to secure those documents and didn't even raise the subject of those documents until now.
Can someone please confirm whether my suspicions that my insurance company's behavior here is not proper is well founded? Can anyone offer any advice for proceeding further? Of course I will be researching further to find out if any documents concerning the original property exist, and I am trying to deal w/ the HOA regarding its insurance.
In August of this year, the cartridge in my kitchen faucet went bad and my kitchen sustained water damage to the cabinets, drywall, and hardwood floor. I made a claim on my HO-6 policy. My HO-6 insurance denied the claim (at least tentatively) based on its interpretation of the CC&Rs being that the HOA master insurance is the primary insurance responsible for all original specifications ("improvements") to the complex while the HO-6 is the primary insurance responsible for all tenant improvements (i.e. improvements/betterments made by the owner to the unit). For purposes of my question here, at least, I will assume my HO-6 insurance company's interpretation of the CC&Rs is correct.
So, clearly the next logical question(s) are (1) which damaged items/materials in my unit have been there since 1972 and (2) which were added by the previous owners during the 40-year period prior to my purchasing the property. After several days of trying to obtain this information from the adjuster, I was provided an answer: they don't know.
Another question I had for the adjuster is what informational resources were at their disposal to determine whether damaged items in my unit were original to the structure or added later. His answer: me and public records. So I wanted to know what the public records revealed. I still have yet to receive an answer to this question, but was advised that these "public records" consist of Zillow and Redfin. Really? In the adjuster's most recent email to me, he advised (for the first time) that the HOA should have documents which detail the original specifications of the unit.
So, in sum, my claim has been denied on the basis that the HO-6 is the primary insurance for tenants' improvements only. At the time of denying my claim, the insurance company had no idea whether any of the damage in my unit was to "tenant improvements" or original materials (and, by the way, I strongly suspect that at least the hardwood floor was added by a previous owner). Its efforts to distinguish between the two were limited to searches on Zillow and Redfin which, predictably, revealed nothing. And further, it knows, or suspects, that there are documents in possession of the HOA which would specify what the original specifications of my unit are, but has made no effort to secure those documents and didn't even raise the subject of those documents until now.
Can someone please confirm whether my suspicions that my insurance company's behavior here is not proper is well founded? Can anyone offer any advice for proceeding further? Of course I will be researching further to find out if any documents concerning the original property exist, and I am trying to deal w/ the HOA regarding its insurance.