neighbors liability?

[chiefer]

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

Last week my neighbors home caught fire. The Fire Dept extinguished the fire and subsequently there were no visible damages to the outside of my home, which sits merely 10 feet away. Unfortunately, I did suffer some rather significant damages to the finished basement of my home. It appears that water used to extingush the fire saturated the ground and as a result seeped into my home from a drainage hole in the concrete of my basement. It should be noted that in the past 13 years I have lived there; there has never been any water in my basement. My basement is partitioned and the finished part is carpeted. There is signficant water damage to the carpet and walls. Also, the water was filled with soot from the fire and the carpet and lower walls are black and stink of smoke. My insurance company related that there is a clause about surface water in my policy which would indicate a denial of a claim from them. My question is: Shouldn't the insurance co. of the home which burned pay for the damages to my home? If they refuse, what legal recourse do I have? Should I try to make my insurance company pay, the insurance co of owners of the burnt home pay, or will I have to sue the homeowner?

 

[chiefer]

Something else, It now appears as though the fire was accidental and now the owners insurance is not going to pay for the damages to my home either. But, it appears that the water that entered my home came from a concentrated flow of water full of soot. The side of the house next to mine was not burned and the fire was essentially in the home and in the attic. As such a ton of water was used in the attic, which then became full of soot, then it came out of the roof and down the gutter. Here is the kicker, I noticed today that my neighbor had a pipe attached to his gutter which essentially directed water onto my property. The amount of soot that entered my basement with the water simply had to derive from a concentrated flow. My belief is that the water that came down the roof and through the gutter with the pipe directing water on my property caused the entrance of water in my basement. Now what can I do?

 

[uswcdh44]

You basically have no recourse. there is no DIRECT fire loss to your home, so your insurance will not pay for it, the surface water clause will stand. You can photograph the downspout, and call your neighbor's insurance co back to plea your case, but I doubt you will get far. good luck, and I'm sorry that this happened to you!

 

[katelly]

you got this one

Call homeowners insurance company and explain to them. I dont care if fire was accident or not you now have water damage. Same as with your insurance company. Dont matter how it got there its there now. Call your state department of federal and professional regulation and dept of insurance. File a claim with both of them. Dept of insurance will contact vice president of insurance co to figure this out. this to me is the best solution. They will be forced to deal with this. File the claim against your insurance co. If they pay then they can go after other insurance co. Trust me this is a no brainer may take some time but sounds like you got plenty of that. Its all a game just dont give in be adamant. Keep calling and definately file these claims youll get satisfaction

 

[moburkes]

Call homeowners insurance company and explain to them. I dont care if fire was accident or not you now have water damage. Same as with your insurance company. Dont matter how it got there its there now. Call your state department of federal and professional regulation and dept of insurance. File a claim with both of them. Dept of insurance will contact vice president of insurance co to figure this out. this to me is the best solution. They will be forced to deal with this. File the claim against your insurance co. If they pay then they can go after other insurance co. Trust me this is a no brainer may take some time but sounds like you got plenty of that. Its all a game just dont give in be adamant. Keep calling and definately file these claims youll get satisfaction

You know so much. I've never been a vice president of any insurance company, yet I handled department of insurance complaints. How is that? Not all water damage is covered by homeowners insurance. Did you forget that piece of information? I seem to recall you telling another person that, yet you tell this person something completely different. Whatever.

 

[katelly]

why you bag on EVERYBODY

99% ofinsurance policies will not cover flood insurance from river creek etc. But they should cover basement flood from neighbors fire. And to you moburkes. If your insurance company let you handle these kind of claims then you worked for a bul sht company. Sounds to me like you work for there neighbors co. Call Profession of regulation thats how i found out about vice poresident having to settle claim. Call em smarty they will tell you same thing then youll find out you dont know it all either. Now I just got one other question why is all my advice bad and yours always right. People ask for advice not for your kiddy comments. These people can clear this up if you quit scaring them. You know as well as i do being though we both worked for insurance companies they have to pay this claim. Surface water is an act of god so right they wont pay for it. But water from a fire hose isnt and for that they will pay. And moburkes quit giving advice. People ask for help, not your screwed so if you cant help dont answer posts. I hope homeowner keeps us posted on this one I would love to show everybody what an as s u are.

 

[moburkes]

While some of your writin gwas in plain English, most of it was difficult to decipher. In any case, I don't know who Neighbor's insurance company is. As far as my experience, majority of the people on this board already know what it is. I've represented top insurance companies in just about every state. I've also process DOI complaints, and I've never been a VP of any insurance company. But, I've known a few and they haven't processed any complaints. They don't need to.

Never said that all of your advice was bad. You're not required to like my "kiddy" comments either, whatever that is.

By the way, you've still given out bad information. Reread your posts, and figure out what pieces were incorrect. Also, I never told OP that his claim would be denied. Another person stated that. And, please provide the legal definition of flood insurance. Just because the water comes from a creek doesn't make it fall under flood insurance.

 

[mommyof4]

I just hope that you will start posting in some form of intelligible English so that when we have to go back and correct your erroneous information, we can at least decide what it is that we are having to correct.

PLEASE stop giving advice based on some phone call you made to find the vice president of your singular insurance company.

Do you handle insurance claims?
Do you handle insurance claims for the OP's insurance company?
Have you read this OP's insurance policy and terms?
Do you have state specific insurance regulations as they pertain to the OP?
NO???? That's what I thought.

Now, knock it off.

This is the 2nd thread I have responded directly to you based solely on your gibberish.