Insurance clause - burst pipe in parents vacant rental

Insurance clause - burst pipe in parents vacant rental

Member since 2017 · 4 posts · 1 vote
Hey BP, Long time reader first time poster! (Wish it were a more positive topic) My parents own a rental property in Freezego, I mean Fargo. Today they were notified by the property manager that a pipe has Frozen and burst in the upper level kitchenette. Obviously leaking down to the main level, ruining floors and possibly much more on it's way. The house was vacant since they were recently trying to sell so no telling how long it was flooding before the manager showed up. My parents are heading up tomorrow to inspect. They haven't detailed through their insurance policy yet but were informed by an insurance agent friend of the family that insurance policies sometimes have clauses for vacant rentals....? My initial thought would be this would be caused by the renters having rental insurance covering their belongings and any damage they've caused to the property but this is clearly not that situation, so I think they'd be covered but wanted to see if anyone had dealt with this before or had experience with these clauses.
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  • Member since 2017 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    7y
    @Ryan Adams Also just to get ahead of this - Im aware the manager should have had the heat on at a reasonable level given the time of year but have no idea where the thermostat was set.
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    7y

    If the home was listed for sale, why would the property manager be involved or responsible? i had this happen last year. I managed a home for 8 years but then the owner decided he wanted to sell it or occupy it again. It sat vacant for several months. I stayed in touch with the owner because I had a potential buyer. One day I sent a friend down to check on the property because nobody had been there for over a month. He found a water pipe had a slow leak and it caused almost $13,000 worth of damage. I wasn't managing the property any more but helped the owner secure the appropriate contractors before he even asked for help (he was out of state). He never once indicated he felt I was responsible and I thought I was doing him a big favor by helping out.

    Six months after the renovation was complete, the owner hired an attorney and sued me for failing to maintain his property even though I was no longer the property manager.

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  • Investor · Hyattsville, MD · Member since 2012 · 822 posts · 441 votes
    7y

    you need to review the policy to see What perils are covered as far as freezing pipes. You need to see if that specific peril is included. Second, how long has the unit been vacant. If it was 60 days or less, you may be covered, but the discretion is really up to insurance company since when it becomes vacant, your risks go up and you are expected to get a vacant policy to cover these increased risks (one of which came to reality). If there was no heat on and the pipe burst, the insurer might want to deny coverage because of lack of reasonable care to shut off the water or turn on the heat.

    Here is one example clause in a dwelling perils list for example(could be in yours or not):

    2. We do not insure, however, for loss:
    c. Caused by:

    (1) Freezing of a plumbing, heating, air conditioning or automatic fire protective sprinkler system or of a household appliance, or by discharge, leakage or overflow from within the system or appliance caused by freezing. This provision does not apply if you have used reasonable care to a. Maintain heat in the building; or b. Shut off the water supply and drain systems and appliances of water. (emphasis added)

    So if they were to find out there was insufficient heat in the house, the insurer could make a case that the owner wasnt taking reasonable care to heat the house and it being vacant meant that it would take longer to notice such damage that might have been smaller if someone were living there.

    below link has more discsussion of examples of when frozen pipes were covered:

    https://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/2013/...

  • Jason BottPro Member
    Insurance Agent · Nationwide · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Ryan Adams:
    Hey BP,

    Long time reader first time poster! (Wish it were a more positive topic)

    My parents own a rental property in Freezego, I mean Fargo. Today they were notified by the property manager that a pipe has Frozen and burst in the upper level kitchenette. Obviously leaking down to the main level, ruining floors and possibly much more on it's way. The house was vacant since they were recently trying to sell so no telling how long it was flooding before the manager showed up.

    My parents are heading up tomorrow to inspect. They haven't detailed through their insurance policy yet but were informed by an insurance agent friend of the family that insurance policies sometimes have clauses for vacant rentals....? My initial thought would be this would be caused by the renters having rental insurance covering their belongings and any damage they've caused to the property but this is clearly not that situation, so I think they'd be covered but wanted to see if anyone had dealt with this before or had experience with these clauses.

     Ryan, The insurance company will establish the Vacancy period by asking for the last lease/rental agreement. If the lease ran through 10/31/18, that would be considered the last day of occupancy unless you can prove otherwise.

    I do not know of an insurance policy that does not have some version of a Vacancy clause.  No matter what type of coverage your parents bought on the front end, if the Vacancy clause is triggered, the policy coverage changes.

    In general, the clause will state that if the property is vacant for more than ________ days (most policies list 60 days), the policy will only cover _______ (Frozen pipes, Water damage, Theft, etc)

  • Real Estate Professional · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2012 · 23k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    7y

    @Ryan Adams The reason policies have vacancy clauses is exactly what’s happened here....in a avacant property when a water leak occurs it can go on for weeks without being detected, as opposed to almost immediately if someone lived there.

  • Member since 2017 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    7y
    Thanks all, as usual BP proves very educational. I'm not sure if they are still trying to get a Tennant in the property or not so don't know exactly why the PM is still on. Another fun twist, there may have been some breaking and entering as one of the windows was found open. Thus far have not heard anything from insurance regarding vacancy clause. Thanks again for all the insight!
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