Court victory! Court dismissed the water damage claim against an apartment association

The court dismissed the water damage claim brought against an apartment association in full. In case no. 2-24-14015, Viru County Court found that the damage was not the responsibility of the association, but of the apartment owner who broke the water pipe during renovation works.

NAMM attorneys-at-law Nele Tammemäe and Kristiina Lee represented a Rakvere apartment association against which an insurer had filed a claim of €5,467. The insurer had compensated its policyholder for water damage in one apartment and then sought to recover the money from the association.

The court explained that if a water leak originates from a pipe in common ownership, the association’s liability may be presumed, but the association can rebut that presumption. In this case, the association proved that the pipe broke during renovation works carried out by the owner of the upper apartment, which meant that the apartment owner, not the association, was liable for the damage. The claim against the association was dismissed.

The judgment is important for every apartment association and apartment owner: it shows that an association is not automatically liable for every instance of water damage and that the decisive question is whose actions actually caused the damage. The judgment is available here.