Fire damages

[jambandphan03]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon

We had a wood stove catch the basement of a rent home on fire in Nov. last year. now we are getting phone calls from a law office on behalf of the landlord's insurance (allstate) claiming we owe over $58,000 in damages. First of all, we are of very low income, and currently seeking employment. The fire was deemed "unintentional" by the fire inspector, and we just do not have the means to pay. In fact we suffered losses that impaired out ability to make money, and over $25,000 worth of personal belongings (computers, etc) that were our lively hood. I have no idea what to do.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[Sophistry]

It appears that the owner's insurance company, Allstate, is attempting to subrogate against you for the damages caused by the fire. In short, they are saying the fire was your fault. It may be a case where the file was transferred to their subrogation department (possibly in-house attorneys) to see if there is a chance at recovery, ie do you have insurance or assets.

I see that you had significant losses - did you have a renter's policy at the time of the fire?

Do you know what caused the fire? Defective stove, creosote build-up, etc? Was the stove there when you moved in? Did you install it? (Please do not post anything online that could be used against you later).

Do you have a copy of the fire department report?

You may want to email or write the attorney (look him up on the state bar's website if he did not leave his address) and request any and all information they have supporting their claim, including all estimates, proof of payment and a copy of the Cause and Origin Report.

If you're not comfortable handling this, there may be a local legal aid clinic that would be willing to help.

Just remember, this isn't personal to them - it's just business. You are simply claim no. XXXX. If there is no insurance and you do not have any money to collect, why would they spend the time and money (experts, filing fees, attorney fees) to chase you? I hope this helps....

 

[justalayman]

what is their justification for the claim? For them to make such a claim, they (generally) will have some basis to believe you were at fault in the situation.

 

[jambandphan03]

We were not insured, and do not have any valuable assets. The actual cause of the fire was not determined. We did not install the stove, it was already there when we moved in as the main heat source for the home. I do have a copy of the fire report which claimed it was an accidental fire with cause undetermined. It was bad enough that we lost a lot of important studio/musical equipment and my crafting supplies, we also got displaced from having a home just as winter was breaking, first snow. Now we have to deal with them trying to pass the buck on people who can't possibly afford this. I appreciate your input, I guess we need to find local legal help to get this resolved.

 

[justalayman]

because of the amount of money involved, I would absolutely seek legal counsel.

From what you have posted, they have no valid theory for which you would be liable. As such, the claim of "they were using it so they must be responsible for the fire and as such liable for the damages" theory should not get them anywhere.

If you discover they actually have presented a justification for their claim, come on back and post it.

 

[ecmst12]

And this is why EVERYONE who rents should have renters insurance. It's not just to cover your stuff (though as you found, your stuff was more valuable than you thought when you lost all of it at once), it's to cover your LIABILITY when things like this happen. Renters insurance can be had for as low as $25 a month and there is just no excuse for not getting it.

At any rate, you can deny your liability to Allstate till you are blue in the face. At the end of the day, they are almost definitely going to file a lawsuit, and you will need to hire a lawyer to defend you. That will be much more expensive then renters insurance would have been, but still less then the $60k you will end up being responsible for if you don't defend yourself from the claims.

 

[jambandphan03]

That may be true, hind sight is 20/20. We are not well to do people, scraping by month to month, barely able to keep our bills paid, hell, we are even on food stamps. Even if they do try to peruse the claim, we don't have money... we don't have assets, where is it going to come from, the sky?

 

[ecmst12]

A judgement is good for a long, LONG time. Long enough for you to attain some assets, get better jobs, maybe want to buy a house someday. And it will be there to haunt you. You need to defend yourself - you have defenses. The cost of a lawyer will save you much more in the end.