Nationwide Recoveries

Negligent Tenants Responsible for Water Damage from Frozen Pipes

Significant damage caused by frozen pipes in a vacation home in Maryland occurred while in use by renters. Stutman Law represented the insurance carrier and insured in an action against the renters for failing to maintain adequate heat and recovered $750,000 in total. The insurer was able to make a subrogation recovery even though Maryland has adopted the implied co-insured rule which precludes a landlord’s subrogated insurer from pursuing a subrogation recovery against the landlord’s renters (see Allstate v. Rausch). Stutman Law also established, through multiple depositions and a mold expert, that the renters had left the house abandoned for several weeks during the winter and ignored continuous problems with the HVAC system inside the home.