Fire Damage and No Home Insurance - HELP

ian999_2

Hi,

Wondering if any Claims advisors can help me out here. I own a house that has been damaged as a result of a fire on a construction site. The construction site is behind my house. The houses they were building caught on fire overnight and the flames were so big that it affected a number of properties in my road - mine included. The police evacuated everyone - they suspect the cause of the fire was arson.
The damage to my property is that the flames has burned the back on my property - so drainage being burnt, walls burnt, window frames burnt and the double glazing cracked.
However, the main problem I have is that I did not renew my home insurance and therefore am uninsured.
Can anyone tell me if I can claim off the construction site owner? I had a word with a loss assessor and he seemed to think I couldnt unless the site owner did something negligent that would have caused the fire to spread. But if they didnt and the fire happneded as a result of arson then I cannot claim off them - seems a bit unfair to me.

Any advice would be appreicated

milkybars

I think the loss assessor is correct... if you can prove that arson at the construction site was a result of the site being neglectful (i.e. leaving a gate open for access when it should have been closed over-night) then you may have a case. Otherwise, this is exactly the kind of thing that most house insurance covers you for.

Did your mortgage lender require you to have buildings & contents insurance?

zkw29

ian999 wrote: »

Hi,
But if they didnt and the fire happneded as a result of arson then I cannot claim off them - seems a bit unfair to me.

If they did something negligent you could make a claim. Otherwise, consider this scenario:
If, for example, arsonists had set fire to your house which had in turn caused damage to the construction site, would it be fair for you to be held responsible for the construction site owners costs?

Edit: milkybars got there first

lisyloo

The law is that you only have a claim off someone if they were negligent.

So let's say that some tiles flew off YOUR roof onto someone else's car and smashed their windscreen in a storm.
If it was your fault and you'd let your roof fall into disrepair then you'd be liable for the damage to the car.
If you'd kept your house in a good state and it was just very bad weather then you are not liable, and it's up to the other person to get their car insured.

So in order for you to claim, then you need 2 things.
One is for them to have been negligent in the first place. If this is the case then you would need to be able to prove it which is a seperate issue altogether.

Otherwise it was just an accident and down to you to insure your own property against this.

Sorry but sounds to me like the advice you got was correct.

mattymoo

ian999 wrote: »

However, the main problem I have is that I did not renew my home insurance and therefore am uninsured.

.....

But if they didnt and the fire happneded as a result of arson then I cannot claim off them - seems a bit unfair to me.

Sorry, but this sounds like you forgot to insure your house and are now looking to try and find someone else to hold responsible. Take responsibility for your own actions, there's nothing unfair about it at all.

asbokid

ian999 wrote: »

Wondering if any Claims advisors can help me out here. I own a house that has been damaged as a result of a fire on a construction site. The construction site is behind my house. The houses they were building caught on fire overnight and the flames were so big that it affected a number of properties in my road - mine included. The police evacuated everyone - they suspect the cause of the fire was arson

It's commonplace for the accounts for these companies to go up in smoke, too..

Is there an absurdly large "ruby" anywhere in the narrative?

The "Gem of Tanzania", a ruby gemstone,
valued at an astonishing £11m by its owners,
the now bankrupt Wrekin Construction Ltd.