Repairs, Maintenance Reimbursement from appartments.

[Mute9003]

Jurisdiction

Washington

My mom's appartment water heater blew up and flooded her bedroom and 2 floors below it.
the maintenance guy who came in said it was 20 years old but supposed to be replaced every 9 years.
water damaged some of her things and
Put alot of stress on her where she was so stressed out that she was throwing up.
She is in not so good health and is studying for her certificate test which is in few days. And all the repairs and drying carpet and dehumidifiers running for last 3 days . She is crashing now from stress.
She went to the office to see if she would be reimbursed for any of the damage or the headache or the electrical bill from running all those machines for 3 days
And not being able to sleep in her bedroom because the carpet was lifted to dry.
But every time she goes to the office the manager just says " well i have same problem at home, what you want me to do about it" literally every time.
Ive been reading the RCW but it is rather complicated and sometimes unclear about what the landlord's responsibilities are and what tenants can ask for as far as reimbursement.
She has renter's insurance but they told her it will be something like 500 bucks deductible

 

[adjusterjack]

She has renter's insurance but they told her it will be something like 500 bucks deductible

So? Every policy has a deductible. $500 is pretty much the minimum these days and wouldn't have been a surprise had she read her policy when she got it.

Anyway, she's covered for the damage to her personal property and, possibly for any additional utility costs beyond her normal costs if she pays for utilities separately. She can submit her bills to her insurance company later. If she can't sleep in her bedroom, her insurance could have paid for temporary lodging in a motel for a couple of days. It's called Additional Living Expenses and it's in her policy.

The apartments aren't liable to her for anything. I can understand her frustration but the failure of the water heater was sudden and unforeseen. The maintenance man's "opinion" that water heater's should be replaced every 9 years is irrelevant and ridiculous. Machines don't get replaced if they still work.

 

[Mute9003]

She is in school and barely has enough to cover basic living. No job.
it is recommended to replace water heaters after 10 years, it says everywhere. 20 year old heater failure is not sudden or unforseen...(at that age they should have been inspecting them better.

in general shouldnt the appartments cover the expenses if it was due to their negligence?
And i always thougt that inaurance was for something major like few 1000s of dollars in damage and more and not for minor issues like this?
Also im confused are you helping me or defending the appartments and saying its ok to be negligent and leave the costs to its residents?

 

[Zigner]

She is in school and barely has enough to cover basic living. No job.
it is recommended to replace water heaters after 10 years, it says everywhere. 20 year old heater failure is not sudden or unforseen...(at that age they should have been inspecting them better.

Yes, I agree - everybody who sells water heaters suggests that the replaced, like clockwork, at the 8-12 year range. Why shouldn't they? They want to sell water heaters. Of course, it's also possible for a 2 year old water heater to fail catastrophically. Having said that, it's entirely possible for water heaters to easily twice that age. You have proof of that, as the water heater in question lasted to an age of 20 years before there was a problem.

in general shouldnt the appartments cover the expenses if it was due to their negligence?

You are coming to the conclusion that it was negligence, but you have no proof of that.

And i always thougt that inaurance was for something major like few 1000s of dollars in damage and more and not for minor issues like this?

If this is minor, then why all the hub-bub?

Also im confused are you helping me or defending the appartments and saying its ok to be negligent and leave the costs to its residents?

First, as pointed out above, there is no proof of negligence here...you're insistence that it was negligence doesn't mean that it was. The apartment is responsible for repairing the problem, but the tenant needs to cover themselves with insurance. The upside to insurance is that the insurance company, with their vast resources, can seek out reimbursement if they feel that there was negligence involved.

 

[adjusterjack]

20 year old heater failure is not sudden or unforseen...(at that age they should have been inspecting them better.

Inspect what? I look at my water heater every few years. I don't see any leaks so it's all good. Mine is 20 years old.

in general shouldnt the appartments cover the expenses if it was due to their negligence?

There's no negligence so, no, the apartments aren't obliged to cover the expenses.

And i always thougt that inaurance was for something major like few 1000s of dollars in damage and more and not for minor issues like this?

Insurance is for what you need it to be. If her damaged property runs a few hundred dollars then, no, I agree that she shouldn't make the claim.

saying its ok to be negligent and leave the costs to its residents?

No, it's not OK to be negligent and leave the costs to the residents. There just isn't any negligence involved no matter how much you wish it so.

 

[justblue]

Px Hx.

 

[zddoodah]

Px Hx.

Bq Zq.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Inspect what? I look at my water heater every few years. I don't see any leaks so it's all good. Mine is 20 years old.

Get these and you won't even have to do that.

https://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-WA100-3-Detection-Alerts/dp/B002VECNMQ

 

[zddoodah]

Px Hx.

Bq Zq.

You got me on that one...what does it stand for?

I thought we were just posting random letters. Does yours actually stand for something?

 

[justblue]

I thought we were just posting random letters. Does yours actually stand for something?

lol...Yes. It means Posting History.