Nationwide Recoveries

Waiver Doesn’t Protect Defendant from Recovery for Water Damage

An insured on the second floor of a 20-story building in New York City suffered damages from a flood emanating from a floor above. In particular, a break in a ‘T’ connection in the sprinkler system on the vacant third floor led to the flood and damaged the floors below. The ensuing water went undetected until a first floor retail tenant notified building management of water coming down into their rental space. After a lengthy period of time, the water was shut off; no water flow alarm was ever sent to the monitoring company and the fire department was not summoned. Stutman Law’s client insured the tenant, and the landlord was protected by a waiver of subrogation within the lease. Stutman Law was able to obtain a substantial six-figure settlement by arguing that the waiver of subrogation was limited in scope and did not extend to the type of insurance policy that was issued by our client.