What’s that TV Commercial for a “Class Action Lawsuit” all about?
You may have seen a commercial from a nationwide law firm that begins “if your home or commercial property was built before 1975,” there’s a good chance that it contains a cast iron plumbing system that has failed or is failing.
This is a true statement, BUT the commercial is highly misleading. It goes on to tout the website of that nationwide law firm that has only recently started handling property insurance claims, and makes you think you should be part of a class action lawsuit. The website, pipelawsuit[dot]com offers information on cast iron plumbing and insurance, with the words “class action” plastered all over the place, but nothing could be further from the truth.
What is a class action?
A class action is a special kind of lawsuit where one individual or a small group of individuals become certified as representatives of a larger group. In order to be recognized as a class, there needs to be one individual that has similar, or even identical facts to the larger group, so that when litigation proceeds, there are common questions and identical issues. There is often one defendant, but there can be multiple defendants, again if the class is representative of the facts of the larger group. This type of lawsuit basically allows the one lawsuit to be on behalf of all the similar claims that exist.
Why isn’t your cast iron plumbing a class action?
If each individual plaintiff has a different set of facts, then a class should not be certified and each homeowner should proceed on his or her own with an individual lawsuit.
First, with regard to simply having cast iron plumbing in your home, there are hundreds of potential defendants. Some may be common to others, but others may be entirely unique.
If there really were a possible class action, it would be against the maker or installer of the cast iron plumbing, and the allegation would be that they should have known it would fail. From 1975 or later, though? That’s 45 or more years ago. There would be no liability for manufacture or installation of a product that’s had such a long life. Inconvenient to the homeowner dealing with the damage and repair, today, sure, but there’s no liability for construction that far in the future. In Florida, the statute of limitations for latent construction defects is 10 years from the date of completion of the work, according to Fla. Stat. 558.004.
Chinese drywall, on the other hand was perfect for a class action law suit. The product was defective, failed almost immediately, and there were limited identifiable manufacturers.
Nearly every homeowner with cast iron plumbing is unique
Perhaps the more important prohibition for there being a pipe lawsuit class action, with regard to cast iron plumbing, is because nearly every homeowner in this situation is unique.
Let’s evaluate, shall we? If your home was built before 1975, it could have been built in a span of nearly 70 years and still be standing? That would include hundreds, if not thousands of cast iron pipe manufacturers, certainly hundreds of thousands of installing contractors, if not hundreds of thousands more who have maintained or serviced the cast iron plumbing in the 45-100+ years since. Next, you have the issue as to whether or not the plumbing has failed yet.
Some cast iron plumbing is still working fine. Other cast iron plumbing is having issues like slow draining and is in a state of deterioration, but hasn’t yet failed causing a leak. Others with cast iron plumbing may have experienced catastrophic failure requiring replacement, but may or may not have damage.
If you have seen a catastrophic failure where the cast iron drain pipe has rusted or rotted through, and you’ve experienced a clog, you may have been able to clear the line and continue using it for months or even years, repeating that maintenance service by snaking or jetting the line. Without jumping into the insurance claim issue just yet, that means each individual homeowner may have up to a half dozen different homeowners insurers entitled to evaluate and possibly provide coverage. Record keeping in that situation is key to your claim, but we’re still just poking holes in the whole “class action” lawyer commercial at this point, and it’s hypothetical.
What’s next that makes each individual homeowner too unique to certify a class? Well, if your line has failed, maybe you’ve had no damage as a result. Maybe backups have only gone into a sink or tub without any kind of overflow causing damage. Maybe you’ve had category 2 water leak from your dishwasher or washing machine. Maybe you’ve had category 3 water leak from your toilet. The water might’ve leaked inside, which would create an insurance claim, or it might’ve leaked outside, in which case there’d be no coverage trigger for an insurance claim.
If you do have damage inside triggering coverage for an insurance claim, you would have to make a claim. Having plumbing or having a leak without making a claim does not establish any kind of “class action.”
Now, if you’re in Florida and need to make a claim, let’s expand this scope even more. The public adjusters at VIP Adjusting have handled insurance claims throughout the state of Florida with over FIFTY different insurance companies. That’s a lot of potential defendants in a “class action,” and we can say from experience that each insurance company has it’s own tricks and tactics. Some pay claims. Some delay. Some deny. Some defend. Each one is different and destroy a potential class. The differences in each insurance company would be enough to defeat any kind of class action.
What do all the insurance companies have in common though?
Probably the part that is most misleading on the website for the “pipe lawsuit,” is the claim from these national attorneys that “your insurance company could deny coverage, claiming “wear and tear,” “deterioration,” or “water damage” exclusion.“ EVERY. INSURANCE. POLICY. HAS. THIS. EXCLUSION.
Even if your claim is covered, your insurance company will deny the replacement to the damaged pipe. This is the homeowners responsibility and to imply otherwise is misleading.
This website header actually goes beyond misleading and just blatantly LIES when it says “home or business owners who have suffered water damage may be entitled to have their insurance company re-pipe their entire house.” I repeat. This is a LIE. The insurance company may pay to provide access to re-pipe the entire house, but the insurance company will not pay to re-pipe cast iron drain lines.
This large national law firm doubles down on their misleading claim and states “we also show homeowners how they can secure funding to replace their cast iron pipes.” Getting a loan from somewhere is not at all the same as having the insurance company pay for it.
The “Pipe Lawsuit” “Class Action” commercial is nothing more than a marketing gimmick
People are so used to seeing lawyer ads on their TV. Have you used Roundup? Ever used Johnson & Johnson baby powder? Have you been exposed to asbestos? Lead paint? Taken antacids? Smoked cigarettes? There are hundreds of major class actions, or individual lawsuit commercials dating back at least 30 years. People are so used to them that their ears only perk up if it relates to them.
So, why wouldn’t a lawyer try to make it seem like if you live in an older home “you may be entitled to compensation!”? Well, because it’s unethical and misleading. You may be entitled to compensation, but the picture this law firm has painted is deceptive, at best. That law firm is just trying to get their foot in the door and their phone to ring.
Believe it or not, VIP Adjusting has had clients who have been fairly paid under their insurance policy for damages related to cast iron plumbing damage that have then contacted this law firm afterwards, over our objection, because they believed they were entitled to something more and ended up disappointed because of the misleading promises of that firm.
Please, if you have cast iron plumbing in your home and it has resulted in a leak, contact VIP Adjusting for a free claim consultation. We will provide you fair and honest evaluations, and straightforward answers to your questions.
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