Fire next door and smoke damage to my house
Discussion
Wondered if anyone had experienced anything similar -
next door had their property totally destroyed by a fire that started in the garage and spread to my adjoining property and another property opposite. Smoke completely filled all the rooms and voids in my house. Walls and contents severely contaminated. I have fire damage to the rear of the house, conservatory melted and the fence modified by the firemen with an alligator saw (nice cordless one)
Although my insurance company at first advised my policy had lapsed (next door are insured), and 5 days later agreed it had t (??!) they are now in the process of evaluating the losses. So i bagged stuff, cleaned and mopped for 5 days before the insurance let me know they had found the policy.
Am I in for a battle to put things back as they were? Do insurance companies just deal with the insured and not bother to recompense from the third party??
Is it expected that I negotiate to return to how the place was before the damage was caused?
Never had a home claim before and pretty disappointed I have one now thats totally not my fault.
Sensible comments welcomed...........
next door had their property totally destroyed by a fire that started in the garage and spread to my adjoining property and another property opposite. Smoke completely filled all the rooms and voids in my house. Walls and contents severely contaminated. I have fire damage to the rear of the house, conservatory melted and the fence modified by the firemen with an alligator saw (nice cordless one)
Although my insurance company at first advised my policy had lapsed (next door are insured), and 5 days later agreed it had t (??!) they are now in the process of evaluating the losses. So i bagged stuff, cleaned and mopped for 5 days before the insurance let me know they had found the policy.
Am I in for a battle to put things back as they were? Do insurance companies just deal with the insured and not bother to recompense from the third party??
Is it expected that I negotiate to return to how the place was before the damage was caused?
Never had a home claim before and pretty disappointed I have one now thats totally not my fault.
Sensible comments welcomed...........
Edited by Loteuk on Saturday 5th August 21:20
guitarcarfanatic said:
You would normally claim off your insurance. They would then make a 3rd party recovery off the neighbour if possible.
They can only claim back from your neighbour if they were negligent in starting the fire. If they weren't negligent, then they are not responsible for damage to third parties. 
Loteuk said:
That was my concern ...
I believe the cause was electrical - a fridge plugged into an overloaded socket and the neighbour is old!
I believe the cause was electrical - a fridge plugged into an overloaded socket and the neighbour is old!
In what way was the socket overloaded? If there were multiple things plugged in then how was the fridge connection identified as the fault? It's hard to see how a fridge itself could cause the actual fire by being plugged in to an overloaded socket.
REALIST123 said:
Loteuk said:
That was my concern ...
I believe the cause was electrical - a fridge plugged into an overloaded socket and the neighbour is old!
I believe the cause was electrical - a fridge plugged into an overloaded socket and the neighbour is old!
In what way was the socket overloaded? If there were multiple things plugged in then how was the fridge connection identified as the fault? It's hard to see how a fridge itself could cause the actual fire by being plugged in to an overloaded socket.
i doubt the op is going on anything more than he was told by a fireman
t btw, could've been worse though.We had a fire in our garden which took down a line of conifers which formed the boundary between us and next door.
The heat from the fire melted the neighbours uPVC window frames and warped their garage door.
Our insurers loss adjuster paid for our new fence and other minor damage that we had incurred and also sorted out the damage done to next door's property.
IIRC the repair bill for next door was ~£20k.
Our insurance premium was hardly any different when we came to renew.
It reinforced to me the worth of ensuring that your policy is with a reputable provider.
Fire brigade response was brilliant and it's worth mentioning just how quickly a fire can take hold and spread through dry conifers.
Truly scary moment!
The heat from the fire melted the neighbours uPVC window frames and warped their garage door.
Our insurers loss adjuster paid for our new fence and other minor damage that we had incurred and also sorted out the damage done to next door's property.
IIRC the repair bill for next door was ~£20k.
Our insurance premium was hardly any different when we came to renew.
It reinforced to me the worth of ensuring that your policy is with a reputable provider.
Fire brigade response was brilliant and it's worth mentioning just how quickly a fire can take hold and spread through dry conifers.
Truly scary moment!
Edited by langtounlad on Sunday 6th August 10:25
A week before we were due to exchange on the sale of our previous house, our next door neighbour had a bbq next to our shared fence. As it hadn't rained for weeks, the first spark set the fence on fire, which then caught the shed, the rear fence and then the trees behind the fence. We were out at the time and so missed the 5 fire engines and the road past the rear of the house being closed off.
Our insurance company did not want to know. They basically said we weren't covered for anything outside the property and it was our neighbours fault anyway. Our neighbours insurance company said they would accept a claim, but it had to come from our insurance company. Luckily our neighbour was a decent chap and got someone in a couple of days later to replace the fences and shed (and contents) out of his own pocket.
Our insurance company did not want to know. They basically said we weren't covered for anything outside the property and it was our neighbours fault anyway. Our neighbours insurance company said they would accept a claim, but it had to come from our insurance company. Luckily our neighbour was a decent chap and got someone in a couple of days later to replace the fences and shed (and contents) out of his own pocket.
Why do household insurance policies not operate like motor ones? If the neighbour has been negligent, their household insurer should fully indemnify them from any claims for damages caused by the negligent. Why do they only entertain claims from other household insurers and not directly from the wronged party?
Loteuk said:
Am I in for a battle to put things back as they were? Do insurance companies just deal with the insured and not bother to recompense from the third party??
I wouldn't worry about the latter point, just let your insurance company sort it out. And in view of them denying you had insurance for 5 days (what's the story there?) I'd be expecting them to turn themselves inside out to make it up to you.langtounlad said:
It reinforced to me the worth of ensuring that your policy is with a reputable provider.
You only know how good an insurance company is when you have to make a claim.The only time we had a loss adjuster in our home her parting words were, shouldn't be a problem as you're insured with LV and they're one of the good ones.
Haven't bought house insurance on price since
KungFuPanda said:
Why do household insurance policies not operate like motor ones? If the neighbour has been negligent, their household insurer should fully indemnify them from any claims for damages caused by the negligent. Why do they only entertain claims from other household insurers and not directly from the wronged party?
Household policies operate exactly like motor policies. You can only claim off someone else if they have been negligent. If your neighbour's car caught fire and damaged yours, it would be exactly the same. You couldn't claim against your neighbour unless they had done something wrong. In the OP's case, it's not at all clear that the neighbour has been negligent.
11 years ago almost to the day our next door neighbour had a fire which started in the electrics for his pond. It had been a long hot spell and I looked out an upstairs window about 9pm to see what appeared to be a bonfire next door, but it didn't look quite right. Grabbed the phone and went out to investigate. Didn't like what I saw as it seemed no one around so called the fire brigade. They arrived within 8 minutes by which time the fence was alight, as where some trees and both of our sheds.
The flames were visible over the roof of our house which lead to lots of neighbours turning up and a off duty fireman who was playing cricket nearby!
Cant remember who each parties insurers where but his were one I had never heard of, ours was a reputable name. His paid for everything damaged in his garden, plants, patio,, greenhouse, shed, fence, pond etc. Ours would only pay for shed and contents, not damage to plants. However as the only thing still standing was the frame to our shed they did agree it was a decent shed and should be replaced with a decent one which they also had adapted to the height of the previous one.
When it came to claiming off the other party for my excess they said they couldn't as they hadn't been negligent. I said they had as either hey had been negligent by letting the water level in the pond drop so causing the electrics to drop, or in not having the electrics checked. The other parties insurance agreed their insured was negligent so paid my excess. Probably paled in to insignificance against his £16k claim!
The flames were visible over the roof of our house which lead to lots of neighbours turning up and a off duty fireman who was playing cricket nearby!
Cant remember who each parties insurers where but his were one I had never heard of, ours was a reputable name. His paid for everything damaged in his garden, plants, patio,, greenhouse, shed, fence, pond etc. Ours would only pay for shed and contents, not damage to plants. However as the only thing still standing was the frame to our shed they did agree it was a decent shed and should be replaced with a decent one which they also had adapted to the height of the previous one.
When it came to claiming off the other party for my excess they said they couldn't as they hadn't been negligent. I said they had as either hey had been negligent by letting the water level in the pond drop so causing the electrics to drop, or in not having the electrics checked. The other parties insurance agreed their insured was negligent so paid my excess. Probably paled in to insignificance against his £16k claim!
I had a major house fire last September that caused major smoke damage to the attached property. Whilst mine was a total wreck and is currently being rebuilt (thread to follow when time allows), my neighbour's place was sorted promptly via his insurers. He is a close friend and took the opportunity to upgrade and refurbish throughout on his insurance, totaling around £8k. There has been no request from them for my insurance details.
My insurers appointed a forensic investigator who concluded it was most likely an electrical issue in the roof space - there was not enough left to be certain! This was not formally documented for his insurer, so I'm impressed how they handled his claim. Mine took 4 months to accept the claim but have now paid out in full.
Amusingly, my neighbour bought me a very nice bottle of cognac as a thankyou!
My insurers appointed a forensic investigator who concluded it was most likely an electrical issue in the roof space - there was not enough left to be certain! This was not formally documented for his insurer, so I'm impressed how they handled his claim. Mine took 4 months to accept the claim but have now paid out in full.
Amusingly, my neighbour bought me a very nice bottle of cognac as a thankyou!
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