Because it controls the disposition of this case, we begin, and indeed end, with DiLullo v. Joseph, supra, 259 Conn. 848, in which we held that an insurer did not have the right of subrogation against a month-to-month tenant for damages negligently caused by the tenant in a multiunit commercial building when there was no agreement in the lease or otherwise between the tenant and landlord regarding insurance, liability for damages or rights of subrogation. In framing the issue, “[w]e first note[d] that the precise issue we must resolve is: what should be the rule of law that governs in the typical default situation? That is, we recognize that tenants and landlords are always free to allocate their risks and coverages by specific agreements, in their leases or otherwise. The question posed by this appeal, however, is what the appropriate default rule of law should be where, as here, the parties have not made such an agreement. Our strong public policy against economic waste, and the likely lack of expectations regarding a tenant’s obligation to subrogate his landlord’s insurer, lead us to conclude that, as a default rule, no such right of subrogation exists.” Id., 851. Thereafter, following our analysis of the relationship between the tenant and *35landlord, we turned to equitable principles and reasoned that, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, to hold a tenant of a multiunit building liable in subrogation to repay the landlord’s insurer for damages to the premises not only would be beyond the ordinary expectations of parties having no specific agreement to the contrary, but also would amount to economic waste. Id., 854-55. We explained that, “[s]uch a rule would create a strong incentive for every tenant to carry liability insurance in an amount necessary to compensate for the value, or perhaps even the replacement cost, of the entire building, irrespective of the portion of the building occupied by the tenant” and that “[this] waste would be compounded by the number of tenants.” Id., 854. We concluded, therefore, that, “our law would be better served by having the default rule of law embody this policy against economic waste, and by leaving it to the specific agreement of the parties if they wish a different rule to apply to their, or their insurers’, relationship.” Id. Accordingly, we held that, “in the absence of an express agreement between the parties covering the question, there is no right of subro-gation on the part of a landlord’s fire insurer against a tenant of the landlord’s premises.” Id., 850-51. “[S]uch an agreement generally may be evidenced by the parties’ lease . . . .” Id., 851 n.4.