Can I File A Claim On My Buffalo Renters Insurance If The Landlord Caused The Damage?

We took a call the other day from a college student who has Buffalo, NY Renters Insurance.  She wanted to know if she could file a claim on her renters insurance in Buffalo because she suffered damage to her personal property because the landlord in her college apartment made a serious error.  The hot water was out for the whole building, and in the process of fixing it, the landlord or their agent managed to cause a flood.  Is there coverage here? What coverage would be primary? How can she go about getting this resolved?

The short answer is yes – you can file a claim on Buffalo renters insurance if the landlord caused the damage in question.  In this instance, it seems like clear negligence on the part of the landlord or their agent, but – and here’s the great thing about having renters insurance – it’s not your problem to figure that out.  You file a claim for a loss due to a covered peril.  This is likely covered because it’s not a flood in the way insurance defines the word.  It’s a sudden and accidental discharge of water akin to an overflow of water or steam from a closed system.

Once you file that claim with your Buffalo Renters Insurance, your policy will cover the loss to your personal property, as well as additional living expenses if you have to stay in a hotel for a few days while they dry the mess out.  You buy the replacement property, and you’re made whole by your policy.

The landlord isn’t off the hook, though.  Your insurance company will likely proceed to recover the money they paid out to you from your landlord’s insurance policy (or that of his contractors who caused the loss).  That process is called subrogation, and generally is entirely transparent to you.  You file the claim on your Buffalo renters insurance, and then it becomes largely not your problem.  If they ask questions about the loss or need you to sign something to help them in the process, you need to cooperate with those requests, but you’re not the one suing the landlord’s insurance company – your insurance company is.  You can get back to living your life and going to class without a care in the world.

While flood insurance is a separate product from renters insurance in Buffalo (and across the country) and flood is not covered, that’s not important here.  A flood is defined as water moving along the ground.  Water moving along the ground is not what caused this loss.  It was caused by a peril which is clearly covered in the policy.  The fifteen dollars or so a month that renters insurance costs seems like a really good investment when your electronics, your overpriced textbooks, and everything else you own is ruined due to someone else’s negligence.  To get covered, or to find out just how affordable coverage can be, just call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need Buffalo renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!

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Photo Credit: Zen Skillcorn Buffalo, NY CC BY ND 2.0