Lost property in a fire....

[firegirl]

What is the name of your state? WA

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to put this in, but I thought I'd start here...


My situation is a bit complex (to me!) and I hope you'll be able to give some advice to or tell me where to turn to next.

I am an Optometrist and practice as an Independent Contractor. I work on one day for a doctor who owns a private practice. About 2.5 weeks ago, the owner of the building the office is in was repairing the roof (there was a lot of leakage in the previous weeks). I'm not actually sure if the owner was actually on the roof or not. He had hired "general laborers" to work on the roof. They were not roofing contractors and I have no idea if they were licensed or if he just picked them up off the street. Apparently they were using a torch to fix the roof and subsequently set the roof on fire. The fire ended up completely gutting the building, destroying the office that I work in. I lost about $4,000 worth of equipment in that office (I bring my own equipment to the offices I work at because I work better with my own things). The fire department deemed it "accidental in nature".

The doctor I work for says that his insurance will not cover my equipment b/c I am an independent contractor. The doctor also states that he is unable to go after the landlord's insurance b/c his lease states that the landlord is not responsible for any loss within the office for whatever reason. I only have malpractice insurance...no umbrella insurance or property insurance that would cover a loss of my work things.

My question is how do I recover money for the loss of my equipment? From what the doctor is telling me, I am responsible for my own loss and if I didn't have insurance, then I'm out of luck. I cannot understand how the landlord is not responsible since he didn't hire roofing contractors, tried to do it himself, and destroyed the building in the process.

Some people have told me to take the landlord to small claims court if his insurance wont' cover my equipment...others say it's the doctor who is responsible since he hired me...others say I'm out of luck because I'm an indep contractor.

I'm not sure if I have a case here to get reimbursement for my losses or if I'm really just out of luck. I appreciate any thoughts you have on this.

Thanks!