If your neighbors house burns and damages yours...

[Grandma's house]

layman, I am sorry to disagree with you. I am a mortgage lender. While we either want the dwelling coverage to BE the amount of the mortgage as has always been the case until over the last few years it has changed. The insurance cos. got some sort of law passed I (will get more facts for you if you want me to)...There are many states such as FL, and CA, MA and NV that due to the market value/increases, because they ARE in these states we no longer could ask for the dwelling coverage to match the loan amount at all but require now the "replacement clause" instead. Think of this scenario. You have a 1200 sq. ft. home, very basic stick built home. The loan is 800-950k or more, then the house burns down. Do you really believe it will cost this much to rebuild this home? The value is nearly in the location and the LAND. Now take this very same home and move it from So. CA. to say Ohio and what is it's value?

 

[justalayman]

well gee grandma but I hate to burts your bubble but I happen to own a property that is mortgaged that has only enough insurance to cover the mortgage onthe property. The house is definately worth more than the current insured amount.

as well, in this situation, we are talking about laibility insurance as opposed to coverage on the actual property which would be required for the OPs property to have any coverage to begin with so...

Oh, and while you are looking up laws, try looking up Connecticut, which is where the OP resides. I do not believe you mentioned Connecticut in the list.

Oh, and unless the monkey in the middle is negligent in some way, their insurance would not be paying a penny even if there was insurance to cover more than the mortgage.

 

[Grandma's house]

quote: I happen to own a property that is mortgaged that has only enough insurance to cover the mortgage onthe property. The house is definately worth more than the current insured amount.

o.k. I won't argue with that one at all. No one meant to upset you...

 

[moburkes]

It's not for a class, it's what happened to me as I'm one of the damaged houses. The investigation is still open and no one seems to know what caused the fire. The fire marshal won't talk with me except to say it's an ongoing investigation. I'm not speculating but only asking if there is any grounds to go to small claims, which apparently is only worth doing if there are findings of a criminal act if I'm reading your replies correctly. That's fine, I'll pay and I'll wait. And as far as sympathy goes,please refrain from making judgements. I'm not insinuating anything about anyone. Yes, you have insurance for bad luck, but if your insurer can't collect through subrogation ( think that's the word) they will consider you a risk for filing the claim. For three years they can raise your rates and put a note on CLUE that YOU are a fire risk. There was no fire at my house, right? It was next door. The house that burned was only covered by a policy that covers the mortgage amount. I'm not sure how they work but that's how my insurance agent explained it to me. He also said the contents of the house would not be covered with that kind of policy. It's been very interesting. Thanks for your opinions though. This whole thing has been an unpleasant and painful learning experience, not only about insurance companies but about people as well. Thanks again for the replies.

Sorry if I missed something but don't YOU have home owner's insurance? If renting then the landlord does surely. Get your agent out there like yesterday to file a claim against the other home owners insurance.

Also..FYI while home owners insurance "covers the mortgage" that is not all it covers. There has to be a "replacement clause" on it. Also I think that fire insurance policy certainly is liable to the damages to your home. You NEED to get YOUR insurance company involved Monday a.m. and file a claim.

Where do you all get this **** from?

Replacement cost has NOTHING to do with situation. Nothing whatsoever. Dwelling Coverage A ONLY covers damage to your own house. Nothing else. Replacement cost or actual cash value, it still only covers your house. LIABILITY covers damage that you caused to another person. If this policy ONLY has dwelling coverage, then it is force placed insurance, not a regular insurance policy. Force placed insurance only covers the damage to the house and nothing else. Personal property coverage has nothing to do with this. The ONLY thing that would apply is liability coverage, and the person didn't have to be negligent in the strictest sense. But, as was stated, if they didn't have liability insurance, it doesn't matter. In any case, even if your insurance company is reimbursed, it will still show up on the C.L.U.E. report. All claims are not necessarily fault claims. Many are "acts of nature" claims. They still show up on the report and are factored into your premium. Not all insurance companies surcharge for all claims.

 

[Grandma's house]

Moburkes, So are you saying he ought not to file a claim with his own insurance co. as I stated or thought? Wouldn't they in turn try to make the other insurance co. pay up if poss. and act in his behalf? Like an auto accident when it isn't your fault but surely you get your auto ins. carrier on it right away? After all you must get the auto repaired.
The lender requires this for both an auto as well as a home.

O.k. I understand.

 

[elana_luv]

xylene: I answered before, but here goes...mine is the damaged house with blackened melted siding and several windows that were broken that have since been replaced. It doesn't really matter which damaged house I own, what style it is, or anything else, only that mine is not the one that burned down. And I as I said previously, apparantly, my neighbor must be found negligent somehow to pursue this in court. That's fine, I'll wait and see what the findings turn out to be and take care of this myself in the mean time with my own insurance.

 

[moburkes]

Moburkes, So are you saying he ought not to file a claim with his own insurance co. as I stated or thought? Wouldn't they in turn try to make the other insurance co. pay up if poss. and act in his behalf? Like an auto accident when it isn't your fault but surely you get your auto ins. carrier on it right away? After all you must get the auto repaired.
The lender requires this for both an auto as well as a home.

O.k. I understand.

Yes, file the claim, unless the OP wants to pay for the damage to her house herself.

Please, please, please stop trying to explain insurance to me. This is what I do for a living.

 

[mommyof4]

Please, please, please stop trying to explain insurance to me.

....especially when you seem to not have a grasp of the fact that auto insurance and homeowners insurance do not work in the same manner.

 

[ecmst12]

Sure, take your neighbor to SCC for the cost of your deductible. See how sympathetic the judge is. Your neighbor had to take donations to replace their clothes, furniture, everything they owned. Sure, it was their own stupid fault for not having traditional HO insurance, but add up the replacement cost of all the items in your home, and see how far $100k will get you. Then add in however much time they had to spend in an apartment or hotel room. Then see how much they have left in the bank to pay you for your comparably minor inconvenience.

 

[alnorth]

Ya, I thought about mentioning something like that too. If this was a big story in your area where the community chipped in to help the homeowner out, and then you sue for your losses, you may risk sparking some outrage and a public backlash.

Unless something damning comes up in the investigation (arson, extreme negligence), then it may not be worth going after them.

 

[claimlaw]

You make a claim with your insurer.

If you believe the damage was a result of negligence - tell your insurer, they have a vested interest in looking for a way out and will subrogate against any others from whom they think they can get a dime.

CLUE is covered by the FCRA. Handle objections to that the same as you would your credit report.

Small claims have $ limits that will not likely get you close to the cost of repairs.

moburkes cites force placed or dwelling coverage and that is right. One thing that could be expanded on is that liability coverages of those policies nearly always exceed structure coverages thus, if you have a legitimate liability claim against the neighbor whose home started it all, there will likely be plenty of coverage. [They are generally 500K and up and more in aggregate].

General Editorial:
Finally, I am unopposed to collaborative effort and agree that the utility of multiple minds[that know what they are talking about] is a wonderful thing. With that in mind, please don't post your drivel here if you know, like we do, that you don't know what you are talking about. We know who you are.

 

[moburkes]

Hey, claimlaw! I don't think we've met! Welcome back!
Mo

 

[claimlaw]

Hey, claimlaw! I don't think we've met! Welcome back!
Mo

Hi Mo! Thanks for the note and the welcome. I've been in hiding on the outskirts of South Cackalacky for sometime - I just don't get to town as often as I would like.

Best to you and yours,

clmlw