Who is liable after fire?

vonvonvon

My neice owns her house, the house next door belongs to a housing association. The tenant next door had a garden fire and melted my neices conservatory side and cracked the glass.

Who would pay for the damage?

My neice has made enquiries to her own buildings insurance and was told that she couldn't claim off her own insurance; this doesn't seem right to me, what do you think?

Would the housing association be liable or the young tenant herself who may not be insured?

Thanks.

clear_blu

On what basis does her insurer say that she cannot claim from her building insurance. The damage has obviously been caused by fire and that is one of the main damages that is covered.
They may ask her to approach her neighbour and find out if he/she has insurance but that is so that they can reclaim the costs of repair. Her OWN insurer should repair this in my opinion.

agaveworm

Her insurer should cough up for the repair and subrogate against the thoughtful people next door.

vonvonvon

Thank you for these replies, I will speak with her soon.

mattymoo

Please let us know the outcome of this one. Cannot see how the insurer can avoid the claim - as clear_blu says, fire is the major cover under the normal household policy. It is also a pretty hard one for insurers to avoid because you have the charred remains to prove the loss.

I suspect someone in the call centre has failed to ask the right questions. The other alternative would be a failure in the policy due to non payment of premium, perhaps via a missed DD for instance. Hope that isn't the case here.