House Insurance - Responsible for neighbours?

spiro

The following question has arisen due to a fire locally which has gutted two houses (semi-detached).

An accidental fire starts in house A which spreads to house B and both are gutted. Is house A's owner/insurance company liable in any way for the building or contents damage to house B? Personally I've never considered this when insuring but local views (not knowledgeable) are split between Yes they are and No they are not.

pvt

House B's owner should claim on his insurance policies, and they should pay out. Leave his/her insurance companies to decide whether to try to recover their losses from house A's owner/insurer.

If House B's owner is too stupid to have insurance for either or both buildings and contents, then house B's owner would have to make a claim against the owner of house A, who in turn would refer it to their insurers.

geri1965_2

The insurers of House A would only be liable for the damage to House B if the fire was caused by negligence on the part of their policyholder. This can be quite difficult to prove.