Insurer's recourse and subrogation in condominiums: how it works

The insurer's recourse in condominiums is the company's right, after paying the indemnity, to act against whoever caused the damage in order to recover the sum paid. The basis is Article 1916 of the Italian Civil Code, which governs the insurer's subrogation into the insured's rights against liable third parties. In practice, if a policy compensates an injured party, the insurer steps into the insured's position and can claim what it paid from the actual party responsible, who may be an owner, a contractor or an outside party.

Subrogation and recourse: the two mechanisms

The term subrogation refers to the insurer stepping into the insured's rights against the liable third party, provided by Article 1916. Recourse, in a broader sense, means any action by which the company recovers all or part of the sums paid. In a global building policy these mechanisms become relevant when the damage to the common parts or to a third party can be attributed to an identifiable party: in that case the company, after indemnifying, turns to the responsible party to recover the outlay.

Who can be the target of recourse

In the condominium context recourse can hit different parties, depending on the dynamics of the damage. The company must prove the causal link between the responsible party's conduct and the compensated loss.

• The single owner, if the damage originates from a part of their exclusive property or from their negligent behaviour
• The contractor, if the damage stems from work carried out badly on the common parts
• The outside third party who caused the event, for example a vehicle that damages the common gate
• The supplier of a defective system installed in the common parts

The waiver of recourse clause

Many global building policies contain a clause by which the company waives the right of subrogation under Article 1916 toward the owners and, sometimes, toward certain categories of third parties. This clause is a concrete advantage: it prevents the insurer, after compensating the damage, from seeking recourse against an owner who, as a collective policyholder, contributes to the premium. When assessing a policy the administrator should check the presence, scope and limits of the waiver of recourse, because its absence exposes the individual participants to a recovery action.

Recourse against the condominium for breach of conditions

Distinct from subrogation against third parties is the recourse the company can exercise against the insured itself when it has paid an injured third party despite a cause of exclusion or limitation of cover. Some policies provide that, if the insurer is nonetheless required to compensate the third party but the condominium breached a contractual condition, the sum paid may be recovered from the insured within certain limits. This is why it is essential to comply with maintenance duties, prompt reporting and the particular conditions stated in the policy.

How the party facing recourse can defend itself

Whoever receives a recourse claim is not without defences. They can contest the requirements of subrogation, ask the company to produce the policy or prove the content of the contract, dispute the causal link and the amount claimed, or object that they in turn hold insurance cover answering for the damage. An owner with a household civil liability policy, for example, can pass the claim to their own company. It is therefore important not to ignore communications and to involve one's own insurer in good time.

The administrator's role

The administrator must know the recourse clauses of the condominium policy, inform the owners of them and carefully archive the claim documentation, because it is precisely from there that later recovery actions arise. They must also verify that work on the common parts is entrusted to firms with adequate civil liability cover, so as not to shift onto the condominium a loss that would be the firm's. A management software such as AmministraPro allows policies, claims and works contracts to be kept in a single digital archive linked to the accounts, reducing the risk of surprises: the features are described on /funzioni and the plans on /prezzi.