Liability waiver for water intrusion in detached garage?

[Derek Daun]

First a little background:

I purchased  a property in Sacramento at the end of August which needed  a bunch of small fixes. My home owners insurance company did an inspection while we were still doing renovations. The insurance company has just come back to us this week saying they are considering cancelling our coverage due to a list of non conforming items; most of which we already have, or are in the process of fixing.

One of the issues was a neglected tree which had large tree limbs resting on the roof of the detached garage. We've already cleaned up the tree, but as expected, there is noticeable damage to the composite roof. We will eventually be fixing these issues, but I would prefer not to have to worry about addressing the roof before we submit our repair report to the insurance company.

Our tenant (who is a friend of ours) was aware, from the beginning, that that the garage may have water issues.. I am considering an addendum to the lease (it's month to month) stating the tenant is aware of potential water intrusion issues, and will not hold the landlord liable for any damage due to it.

Would such a liability waver be legal? Is it even necessary in neighborhoods such as this where most of the garages are very old wooden structures behind the houses?

My hope is the waiver would lend a little more confidence to the insurance company that there is less risk.

I would prefer not to switch insurance companies, as I really like my agent, and we just consolidated all of our policies with them.