Article
Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By
Shannon O'Boye
Posted April 5, 2006
Hollywood · With the hurricane season fast
approaching, hundreds of condominium windows damaged by Hurricane Wilma remain
boarded up on Hollywood beach because of disputes between condo associations and
insurance companies over who must pay for repairs.
The repairs amount to millions of dollars, and condo residents said they are
caught in a tug of war between the companies that insure condo associations and
those that insure individual homes.
"The [individual] homeowners insurance companies don't want to take
responsibility for the windows ... and the insurance for the association says
they're not sure if it's their responsibility," said Doris Weinstein,
president of two of the Quadomain condominium's four towers in the 2100 block of
South Ocean Drive. "Someone has to be accountable."
Approximately 200 windows at the Quadomain still are not repaired, Weinstein
estimated. Ron Clasky, a Quadomain resident, called that a "crisis."
"We need it settled before the next storm," Clasky said. "The
crisis is we have three months of work and we're two months from hurricane
season."
Paul Finfer, who lives at the Aquarius, two 18-story buildings in the 2700 block
of South Ocean Drive, said his association's $2 million to $3 million repair job
has not been completed because of the window dispute.
Condo association policies, also known as master policies, generally cover the
building itself, while individual unit owners' policies cover the interior,
including carpets, wallpaper, furniture and other belongings. Should a building
sustain damage, all unit owners have to pay the deductible on the master policy,
and individual unit owners who suffered damage pay deductibles on their own
policies.
A state law enacted in 2004, which said master policies cover the building
itself and original interior walls within individual units, was supposed to
clarify the issue. But legislators failed to spell out who is responsible for
the windows.
Carol Everhart, a member of the Professional Insurance Agents of Florida's board
of directors, said she thinks associations' policies cover windows damaged by
hurricanes.
"It depends on how the [insurance] carrier looks at what a building
is," Everhart said. "In my opinion ... you can't have a building
without windows."
The Quadomain and the Aquarius condo associations are insured by QBE Insurance
Group. A QBE representative could not be reached on Tuesday, but Everhart, who
has written insurance coverage for more than 160 condo associations, said QBE
"handles claims better than anyone."
Condo associations unable to reach an agreement with insurance companies should
contact the state Department of Financial Services to request mediation, said
spokesman Bob Lotane. Once notified of the mediation request, insurance
companies have 21 days to settle. If no settlement is reached, mediation is
scheduled at the insurance companies' expense.
"Just requiring the mediation tends to get the insurance company a little
bit motivated, or more motivated, and jump-starts the process," Lotane
said.
The hotline number is 800-227-8676.
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