Fire Damage from next door

collectors · 25 August 2018 at 4:46PM

Hi, just enquiring for a friend,
in that my friends neighbour has had a fire & it has done some damage to her house, "around £450.00 worth". The neighbour was advised that my friend should claim off her own insurance. Is this correct & what would happen if my friend had no insurance. This could also affect her premiums on renewal. Surely she shouldn't have to lose out because of somthing that's not her fault.??

Thanks

gardner1 · 25 August 2018 at 4:47PM

I would have thought she'd claim off neighbour......but i could be wrong

forgotmyname · 25 August 2018 at 5:12PM

She can claim off her own or the neighbours insurance, but she needs to let her insurance know about the claim.

FlameCloud · 25 August 2018 at 5:57PM

forgotmyname wrote: »

She can claim off her own or the neighbours insurance, but she needs to let her insurance know about the claim.

Whether she could claim off the neighbours would depend on the cause of the fire.

EdGasketTheSecond · 25 August 2018 at 6:07PM

Claim off the neighbour. Neighbour to me claimed on my insurance when I had a fire. The claim is normally on contents insurance; mine paid for neighbour's damage without question.

eddddy · 25 August 2018 at 6:42PM

Your friend can only claim from their neighbour (or the neighbour's insurer), if the neighbour was negligent.

So, for example, if the neighbour left a chip pan unattended it started the fire, that might be negligent.

But if, for example, the fire was started by an electrical fault which the neighbour would not have known about - that's probably not negligent.

If the neighbour was not negligent, your friend can either claim on their own insurance (and pay the excess), or just pay for repairs out of their own pocket.

EdGasketTheSecond · 25 August 2018 at 7:33PM

If someone was negligent then the insurance would probably not pay out at all. Where do you get that from eddddy?

eddddy · 25 August 2018 at 11:11PM

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

If someone was negligent then the insurance would probably not pay out at all. Where do you get that from eddddy?

You need to re-read my post. I said:

Your friend can only claim from their neighbour (or the neighbour's insurer), if the neighbour was negligent.

If you want to be pedantic, perhaps I could have said:

Your friend can only claim from their neighbour if the neighbour was negligent. And the neighbour's insurer might cover the claim. (If not, the neighbour is liable themselves.)

If you want something to read on this topic, a quick Google found this. It's not a very 'technical' or forensic, but it gives a general impression:

Did you know...?
If your home is damaged by fire from a neighbouring property circumstances will determine whether your insurer or your neighbour's is liable for the resulting claim.

....

If the fire is found to have been accidental then it should be straightforward for your provider to arrange repairs to your home and cover the cost.

...

However, if the fire is thought to have been started intentionally, or by serious negligence, your claim could be more complex and could take longer to process.

...

If a fire starts in your home and affects neighbours your insurer may be liable for the cost of repair and redecoration of their homes as well as yours, especially if it’s decided that the fire has started as a result of your negligence.

Link: https://www.gocompare.com/home-insurance/fire/

Dangermac · 26 August 2018 at 12:09PM

This thread contains more incorrect and misleading information than I have ever seen before.

- The OP will be able to legally claim against next door, if next door has been negligent in some way. Generally, under English Common Law, one has to have been negligent for liability to attach. There are some exceptions to this, but the general rule is that negligence will need to have existed. For example, poor premises maintenance or a chip pan being left unattended.

In the absence of negligence, the OP will need to claim against their own Household Insurance policy.

If the OP wants to claim, it may be best to claim against their own policy, and let their own insurer pursue a possible recovery against the next door neighbour.

- One post states that 'an insurance policy will not pay out if someone has been negligent'. What nonsense !!!!!!!!!! If that was the case, very few motor insurance claims would be paid, no accidental damage claims would be paid, no Public Liability claims would be paid etc etc etc. In fact, because many insurance policies (i.e liability-based ones) dovetail with the law, negligence is actually required for a 3rd party claim to succeed.

Hopefully, this clears up the nonsense that has been stated above

DM

agrinnall · 26 August 2018 at 3:34PM

Dangermac wrote: »

This thread contains more incorrect and misleading information than I have ever seen before.

...

Hopefully, this clears up the nonsense that has been stated above

DM

But you should acknowledge that edddy has already said exactly the same as you, so it's not all nonsense (although I'd agree quite a lot of posts are indeed wrong).

EdGasketTheSecond · 26 August 2018 at 4:33PM

From LV's General Exclusions on Home policy:

"loss or damage deliberately caused by you or your family, or any other persons residing
in your home"

and

"any wilful or negligent act by you, your family or any resident(s)."

So it is not 'nonsense' to say that a negligent act will be excluded; as LV specifically say it will be excluded. Also LV group wilful act and negligent act together putting 'negligent' more towards the deliberate act then accidental act end of the spectrum.

Fire Damage from next door

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