In multi-unit housing the loss that happens most often does not start in your apartment. It starts above it, and whose policy pays is decided by why the water moved rather than where it landed.
Your neighbor’s burst pipe is not automatically their liability. Negligence has to be shown.
Three things about living underneath somebody else.
If a supply line fails in the unit above and ruins your belongings, your neighbor is only liable if they were negligent. A pipe that simply failed usually is not negligence. That means your own policy pays your loss, subject to your deductible, and then decides whether pursuing anyone is worthwhile.
The owner insures the structure and will dry and repair the unit. Your furniture, electronics and clothing are not part of that, and in a multi-unit building this is the most frequent way tenants discover it.
A water loss can make a unit uninhabitable for days or weeks while it dries out. That cost is covered under loss of use, and it is the part of a modest claim that most often exceeds the value of the belongings lost.
Cover for a loss that starts somewhere else.
These are mid-sized losses. The deductible decides how much of it you carry.
Short displacements are common and the cost adds up faster than people expect.
Soft furnishings and electronics depreciate heavily. It matters most on exactly this kind of claim.
Tell us whether you are above, below or between neighbors. It changes the likely claim.
We set the deductible and loss of use for the claim you are most likely to have.
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