Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
I had a broken water pipe on my property that ran into by down-hill neighbors commercial building. He is now demanding that I pay for losses he suffered to his property because I delayed several days before fixing the problem. This was not a major flood event and I was originally told that the tenants of the building were complaining about the muddy parking lot and tracking water and mud into the building. When the water company contacted me a few days later regarding the commercial building owners complaint about water in the building, the problem was immediately corrected...on Thanksgiving eve I might add. Can I be held responsible for the water entering his building and pay for any losses he suffered?
5 Answers from Attorneys
Potentially yes. I suggest that you place your insurance carrier on notice about the possible claim.
If the leak caused the damage, then yes. You should definitely notify your insurance carrier as soon as possible.
Probably, but it will depend upon the facts. You should notify your insurance company, since you may have coverage for this sort of problem.
The only thing wrong with the previous answers is that it does not depend on anything. Plumbing lives in a special world of non-delegable duty to maintain and strict liability. That's a fancy lawyer way of saying that if your plumbing fails and damages someone else's property, you are liable, even if you hired a plumber and the plumber's negligence missed a problem or caused the leak due to faulty work. Nor does whether you delayed or not play a role, except that if it caused major damage and you were on notice you might have been liable for punitive damages as well. Turn it over to your insurance carrier right away.
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