storm damage?

[edea]

What is the name of your state? west virginia

during a huge rainstorm a storage building belonging to me was carried over to a neighbors yard by the wind hitting the neighbors storage building. i turned it in to my insurance and after the insurance man came a looked at everything he said it was storm damage and that my insurance wont pay for it.

my question is: am i responsible to pay for it or should the neighbors homeowners insurance pay for it since it was considered storm damage? also would i be responsible for the contents of the building? the neighbor claims it rained the next night and the contents were ruined due to damage to the roof of hte building.

any advice or comments are greatly appreciated so i know what i am up against.

 

[moburkes]

What is the name of your state? west virginia

during a huge rainstorm a storage building belonging to me was carried over to a neighbors yard by the wind hitting the neighbors storage building. i turned it in to my insurance and after the insurance man came a looked at everything he said it was storm damage and that my insurance wont pay for it.

my question is: am i responsible to pay for it or should the neighbors homeowners insurance pay for it since it was considered storm damage? also would i be responsible for the contents of the building? the neighbor claims it rained the next night and the contents were ruined due to damage to the roof of hte building.

any advice or comments are greatly appreciated so i know what i am up against.

Since your insurance company denied the claim, theirs will probabaly do the same. I don't know the answer to the rest of your questions, except the neighbor IS responsible for mitigating the damage to their belongings by either moving them or covering them so that no more damage occured after the 1st storm.

 

[BRN2005]

Storm Damage

You are not "liable". "Liability" denotes some type of "negligence" on your part. This was an Act of God and the neighbor's insurance is responsible for damage caused by an Act of God. The only way you should be held liable is if your shed was not properly secured or maintained, causing the dmamge. If is was purely due to storm, you are not responsible. There is, however, on homeowner's policies, kind of a Good Guy option that is sometimes exercised voluntarily to pay for "Good Faith". In this case, it might come into play where you would voluntarily agree to pay the neighbors' deductible. I would be very careful with this though. It could be construed as an admission of some kind of responsibility or guilt.

 

[moburkes]

You are not "liable". "Liability" denotes some type of "negligence" on your part. This was an Act of God and the neighbor's insurance is responsible for damage caused by an Act of God. The only way you should be held liable is if your shed was not properly secured or maintained, causing the dmamge. If is was purely due to storm, you are not responsible. There is, however, on homeowner's policies, kind of a Good Guy option that is sometimes exercised voluntarily to pay for "Good Faith". In this case, it might come into play where you would voluntarily agree to pay the neighbors' deductible. I would be very careful with this though. It could be construed as an admission of some kind of responsibility or guilt.

The only thing I could imagine that you are referring to is "medical payments" coverage, which, will not apply in this situation.

 

[BRN2005]

No. What I am referring to is not medical coverage. I was a personal lines insurance agent for 15 years. It has been about 5 years since I got out of that, so I am a little rusty on the name right now. The coverage I am referring to was like a good neighbor (good faith) kind of deal that could be used to keep possible claimants happy. It was an option (I believe the dollar limit was $500) to hopefully prevent unnecessary claims from being filed. Although the neighbor may have no real claim to damages, he/she could file claims that would cost the defendant neighbor and their insurance company a lot of time and money to fight. It is often cheaper, easier, and better policy to spend a little to prevent nuisance claims and keep the insured and their neighbor happy and on good terms.

 

[moburkes]

No. What I am referring to is not medical coverage. I was a personal lines insurance agent for 15 years. It has been about 5 years since I got out of that, so I am a little rusty on the name right now. The coverage I am referring to was like a good neighbor (good faith) kind of deal that could be used to keep possible claimants happy. It was an option (I believe the dollar limit was $500) to hopefully prevent unnecessary claims from being filed. Although the neighbor may have no real claim to damages, he/she could file claims that would cost the defendant neighbor and their insurance company a lot of time and money to fight. It is often cheaper, easier, and better policy to spend a little to prevent nuisance claims and keep the insured and their neighbor happy and on good terms.

There is no specific coverage that I am aware of. Its probably just a goodwill practice amongst companies. Also an agent (currently), but not in WV. No problem. Not trying to argue with you.

 

[BRN2005]

moburkes

My agency was not in WV either. I am in Colorado, and "yes" it is a "Goodwill" coverage. This may vary by company, state, and even time frame (remember, I have not been an agent for a while). You can see, however, how exercising a coverage like this could save the insured and insurance company a lot of money, hard feelings, and headache down the road. We actually used it for a couple of my insureds. Once was when a large tree branch fell on a neighbor's house. Had the neighbor been angry and vendictive, they could have persued the issue and tried to prove that there was actually some "negligence" in that the tree was old and perhaps the large branch should have been trimmed prior to the storm. Had that been proven, there would have been some "negligence", thusly some "liability" on the part of my insured (an ultimately my company).
The long and short of it is that the original thread can be answered in that, "No, you are not liable for Acts of God, unless there is also some 'negligence' on your part". In insurance, "Liability" quite literally translates to "negligence" and lacking "negligence", there is no "liability" exposure.

 

[Betty]

Most all homeowner ins. policies have "good neighbor" coverage: However, it pertains to a guest getting hurt on your premises (even if caused by their own carelessness) -- this coverage would pay their medical bills up to coverage limit, usually $1000. (You can increase limit for an extra prem.) This is done to eliminate small claims & is seen as an act of "good will." It seems as if your "good guy/good faith" offer of the one neighbor paying the deductible for the other neighbor is like you indicate - a practice as opposed to a policy prov. like "good neighbor" coverage. I don't know of any pol. prov. anyway.