Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

I live in a small townhouse community of 20 units. Last winter a unit owner fell asleep while filling his bathtub and caused over $10,000 worth of damage to his unit. He submitted a claim against the master policy (from reading the master deed and by-laws several times, what is considered "common space" is "the building that contains the units, below the concrete of the basement, between the walls of the adjoining units and any pipes or wires originally installed that might service more than one unit - of which there are none - and then, oddly, any originally installed kitchen and bathroom fixtures.) The by-laws and master deed both state that unit owners are required to carry their own HO6.

The insurance company that wrote the master policy paid out almost $12,000 to this unit owner for the damage that occurred when his upstairs bathtub overflowed and flooded his kitchen. I was livid because I felt that not only was this negligence on the part of the unit owner, but based on our governing documents most of the damage should have been covered by the unit owner's HO6.

Due to this claim and another small claim submitted by another unit owner for damage due to a cracked bathtub, our association policy was non-renewed. We had a lot of trouble finding a new insurance carrier, and now face being placed in the Massachusetts Fair Plan if we have one more claim over the next four years.

I am trying to obtain information on the large claim that was paid out to see if it really should have been paid. When I called the insurance company I was told I would have to ask the president of our board of managers for the info, as the insurance company wouldn't release to me (I'm not on the board). I feel as a unit owner I should be able to obtain any information regarding a claim against our master policy. I would understand if they can't release some information due to privacy issues, but there should be no reason I can't review the claim that was paid that caused us to be non-renewed.

I have two questions:

1. How can I go about getting the information sent to me from the insurance company?

2. If the claim was paid out for things that shouldn't be covered, what recourse do we have?

Thanks so much for any assistance you can provide!

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