TMFS9
03-23-2005, 08:11 PM
A few months ago my girlfriend had a small grease fire limited to the kitchen in her apartment, which was her fault. Her and one of her roomates moved into another apartment in the same complex, she has sinced moved out. About a month after the fire they sent her a bill for a little over $6000, some of the charges seemed a little excessive with one example of charging for the changing of tile and toilets in the bathroom while the fire was solely limited to the kitchen. They later removed the charges dealing with the bathroom.
They have been dicussing the issue for around the last two months on the charges and if the complex's insurance would cover the costs, my girlfriend did not have renter's insurance. The complex claims that it's her fault for not having insurance to cover damages to their property. I have always been under the assumption that renter's insurance covers the renter's property, while the complex's insurance covers the landlords property. At first the complex claimed that their insurance only covered structural damage to the building, then the came back and said that their insurance covers more than structural but because they have had a few other claims that they didn't want to claim this fire because it would increase their rates. Now their reason is that the insurance company would come after my girlfriend for the money anyways so she might as well pay them, claiming that they are doing her a "favor" by not using the insurance company.
I, for the first time, went and talked to them today and the guy was real pushy. We started talking about the insurance covering the costs and he originally claimed that the insurance has already processed the paperwork, but he told them to hold off for a little while because he was going to get my girlfriend to pay for it. I don't know if you can just tell the insurance company to hold off on processing a claim, can you? Finally I asked to talk to his insurance representative and he started to get irate saying that his agent won't talk to a non client and kept repeating that he is doing my girlfriend a favor. Then the Final reason he used for not using his insurance company was for "personal reasons" then he threatened that if she didn't pay him the money by the end of the week he will file a lawsuit.
Has anyone had any experience with these situations and does anyone know what alterior motives he would have to not use the insurance.
They have been dicussing the issue for around the last two months on the charges and if the complex's insurance would cover the costs, my girlfriend did not have renter's insurance. The complex claims that it's her fault for not having insurance to cover damages to their property. I have always been under the assumption that renter's insurance covers the renter's property, while the complex's insurance covers the landlords property. At first the complex claimed that their insurance only covered structural damage to the building, then the came back and said that their insurance covers more than structural but because they have had a few other claims that they didn't want to claim this fire because it would increase their rates. Now their reason is that the insurance company would come after my girlfriend for the money anyways so she might as well pay them, claiming that they are doing her a "favor" by not using the insurance company.
I, for the first time, went and talked to them today and the guy was real pushy. We started talking about the insurance covering the costs and he originally claimed that the insurance has already processed the paperwork, but he told them to hold off for a little while because he was going to get my girlfriend to pay for it. I don't know if you can just tell the insurance company to hold off on processing a claim, can you? Finally I asked to talk to his insurance representative and he started to get irate saying that his agent won't talk to a non client and kept repeating that he is doing my girlfriend a favor. Then the Final reason he used for not using his insurance company was for "personal reasons" then he threatened that if she didn't pay him the money by the end of the week he will file a lawsuit.
Has anyone had any experience with these situations and does anyone know what alterior motives he would have to not use the insurance.