Chubb Insurance sues Ritz-Carlton Residences for $2.5M in water damage payouts
Chubb Insurance has sued The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Westchester to get back $2.5 million paid to residents whose apartments were flooded in 2018.
Chubb and four affiliates paid insurance claims to owners of 10 apartments that were damaged when a 6-inch water pipe failed on the 45th floor of the luxury apartment building at 1 Renaissance Square, White Plains.
The largest claim, $975,929, was paid to Louis Cappelli, according to the complaint filed May 6 in Westchester Supreme Court. He developed the two Ritz condominium towers and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel around 2007 to 2009.
The other insurance claims ranged from nearly $6,000 for an apartment on the second floor to $659,444 for two penthouse apartments owned by Manhattan Properties LLC.
The adjacent Ritz-Cartlon Hotel ”“ recently renovated and rebranded as The Opus, Westchester ”“ was not damaged by the flooding.
George A. Fuller Co., a part of Cappelli Organization, is also named as a defendant, as the general contractor that hired Frank & Lindy Plumbing & Heating Inc. to work on the building.
Insurance law allows the insurer to seek reimbursement for claims on damages caused by a third party. Chubb accuses the Ritz Carlton Residences, the contractors and other entities of gross negligence.
The Ritz-Carlton and George Fuller Co. did not respond to emails asking for their side of the story.
The flooding incident was the second in eight years.
In 2010, a hot water pipe failed on the 25th floor of Tower 2, allowing thousands of gallons of pressurized water to cascade down the interior and damage nearly every floor below, according to a 2012 lawsuit filed by Travelers Indemnity.
Travelers paid $2.4 million in claims to the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Westchester, and other entities. The insurer then sought reimbursement from two plumbing companies and George Fuller Co. The dispute was settled in 2016.