Money Moral Dilemma: A fire at my house damaged my neighbour's place - should I pay for the repairs?

[Deleted User]

Absolutely and 100% not!!  Quite apart from anything else, they are the ones who chose to have a £300 excess on their policy AND they are the ones who were happy to live next to another property (yours) and take the risk that yours may catch fire! If you give in to these bullies, who knows how far they will try to push you in the future? You should never feel pushed into doing something where there is no legal obligation on your part, regardless of whether or not you are concerned about falling out with your neighbours. Let’s face it, if you did stump up their £300, would you really feel like associating with them in the future? They are trying to take you for a ride I’m afraid - please don’t let them do it! 

I do hope this helps.

tain

So many people don't understand what insurance is. It does NOT resolve you of liability, and it especially doesn't when it's the other party who have the insurance! 

It's highly unlikely the neighbours will sue you for the £300 excess, but they have a legal right to reclaim for their loss. £300 is not insignificant, and they should not be out of pocket for this. 

And if they wanted to, there are a lot of non-material things they can sue you for. 

Pay them the £300 and hope they don't come after you for everything else. 

primrose_penguin

First of all I think you should get House Insurance straight away, it is foolish to be without it, you may find you have to pay a bit more because you have had a fire recently, as it will be asked in the application. I thankfully have never had to make a claim, although I have paid for house insurance for many years it gives me peace of mind. You don't say what caused the fire, but I feel sorry for your neighbour having to pay for the repairs to their house through no fault of their own, most House Insurance policies have an access unless you want to pay a considerably higher premium. If you had had House Insurance it would probably have paid for their damage, so I would feel obliged to offer them what you can afford. How would you have felt if it was the other way round, would you expect them to pay for damage caused to your house if the fire was in their property?

SStitanic

You’ll never hear the end of it of you don’t, not like they don’t live next door you know.

RickyAH

Pay up and learn your lesson. 

kathill55

Of course you should, how is this even a question?!

Pennypitstop123

If you had paid for house insurance the insurance company would pay for your neighbours repairs.
House insurance would probably be less than £300 a year you are foolish not to have it, you were lucky that it was a small fire......what would you do if your home  and all its contents were completely destroyed ?.
I think every householder should have to have insurance just like every car owner has to.

fuserich

It is most unusual for an excess to apply to fire damage and I would check this. Excesses normally apply to storm, flood, burst pipes and subsidence claims. 

mardmap

I’m surprised you’ve been advised you have no legal responsibility. 

As for the moral responsibility… when your neighbour claims on their policy they’ll likely see increased future premiums with any insurer due to their claim and a now known risk of neighbour accidental fire.
Potential for a nasty falling out I reckon and not a good look if you’re both owner occupiers and wanting to sell at some point.

hannerrbabes

Rd1994 said:

No - that’s what insurance is for. When your neighbours agree ctook out their policy they would have agreed to a £300 premium. Often you can pay more monthly and get a lower premium. Not your fault I wouldn’t bother unless you have the cash going spare and want to be extra neighbourly. 

I agree completely - the neighbours chose the £300 premium after considering if they could afford it.