When a Harrison Avenue water main burst, BWSC should have gotten right on the phone and called car owners to move their vehicles, insurance company claims in suit

Liberty Mutual alleges, in a lawsuit filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, that the BWSC caused a 2020 flood along Harrison Avenue in the South End on April 14, 2020 by overpressuring its mains, including the 30-inch wide pipe that burst, flooding basements and parking garages and lots.

In its suit, on behalf of a policy holder whose garaged 2019 BMW was ruined by the water, the Back Bay-based insurer claims that BWSC also failed to call or text car owners to let them know they should move their cars, more specifically, its customer:

The BWSC and its agents had the phone number or ability to communicate with the Plaintiff's Insured, his building, the garage where the car was parked or his agents over the hours in which the water accumulated, to ask Plaintiff's Insured or his agents to move the Insured Vehicle car to try to avoid or mitigate any damages. ...

Plaintiff's Insured was available and could have been contacted on April 14, 2020 after the Water Main break and in the following hours by phone, text, email or in person to move his 2019 BMW from the area, or have it removed, to avoid damages or to mitigate damages. ...

The BWSC owed a duty to the Plaintiff's Insured(s) beyond that owed to the general public and had a special relationship with the Plaintiff's Insureds because the Insured Vehicle was readily identifiable at the scene of dangerous flooding.

This special relationship gives rise to a duty to act with reasonable care to prevent harm where the BWSC reasonably could foresee that it would be expected to take affirmative action to protect the Plaintiff's Insured(s) and could anticipate harm to the Plaintiff's Insured from its failure to do so.

Liberty Mutual says that had BWSC contacted its policy holder, he would have moved this car from the garage in which it was parked. Instead, it suffered major water damage. The insurer says BWSC needs to pony up $44,901.63, plus interest and attorney's fees. The company says it actually paid out $54,174.38, but subtracted the roughly $9,600 it got when what was left of the car was sold at auction.

In addition to failing to call its customer, Liberty Mutual says the commission is to blame for the disaster because the alleged main overpressuring led to the main cracking and bursting "due to hydraulic shock of so called water hammer effects" and that this was compounded by poorly trained workers and "insufficient and defective management of the water mains and operations" and "failures to inspect and repair the water mains."

In addition to failing to call its customer, Liberty Mutual says the commission is to blame for the disaster because the alleged main overpressuring led to the main cracking and bursting "due to hydraulic shock of so called water hammer effects" and that this was compounded by poorly trained workers and "insufficient and defective management of the water mains and operations" and "failures to inspect and repair the water mains."

Complete complaint (1.7M PDF).