Another water damage question

[dtowner]

If a broken water pipe causes damages to someone else's property, who is responsible to repair the damages? For instance, if a buried water pipe on my property breaks and leaks into an underground transformer owned by a utility company, am I, as owner of the water pipe, responsible for repairs to the transformer. Could this be considered "an act of God"?

 

[dee_dub]

"Acts of God" are typically the subject of provisions in insurance policies, which do not determine whether an owner is liable but only whether, in the event they are liable, they will will have to pay out of their own pocket.

It is impossible to answer the question in absence of specifics. Maybe the negligent manufacturer of the defective pipe is liable; maybe the negligent installer of the pipe is liable; maybe the owner is liable for failing to maintain the pipe properly; maybe... But generally, I think it is safe to say that the owner is not, simply by reason of ownership, responsible for any damages caused by leakage from the pipe.