Flooding in apartment- holding us liable for pipe burst

[Andy Pat]

My roommate and I live in a leased apartment. Due to a water pipe burst couple weeks ago, the entire apartment got flooded with damage to all my personal property and several other units in the building. The lease office holds us liable since the water pipe froze and burst in our unit. They blame a big window being left open while we were away for a week. It is not true. All the windows were closed and all appliances unplugged before we left our apartment. The building is very old and we are not responsible for any equipment failure or damages. We have renters insurance with a liability of 300k. Adjustors are in the process of assessing damages. Our landlord states that the building damage could approximate a million$ and we would be responsible for costs exceeding 300k. My concerns are:

1) If damages exceed 300k and if they falsely prove us liable, we are in no situation to pay. Does their insurance kick in? How do we fight it?

2) We continue to pay rent, but the apartment is uninhabitable. Neither the landlord (lease office) nor our insurance will provide us temp relocation and currently we do not have a place to live. Do we approach a higher authority?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Richard C.]

My advice is to delete your post, because you just admitted negligence.

Your statements are a little contradictory.  First you suggest that you weren't negligent by leaving the heater off, because the unit held its temperature fairly well.  Then you list a bunch of reasons why you are not at fault because it is a cold building where there are lots of ways for the pipes to freeze.  You get to have one of those arguments, not both.

If they want you out, you should offer to leave in exchange for being held harmless for the repairs/damage. See how that goes.

And next time you rent an apartment and go out of town for a few days, leave the damn heat on.