What is the name of your state? Illionois
My homeowner's insurance company is subrogating against my boyfirend for damages they paid to me as a result of a fire in my boyfriend's apartment.
I am a homeowner with a Homeowners' Insurance Policy. I was staying in an apartment with my boyfriend for about 3 months while my house was for sale. I was not on the lease at my boyfriend's apartment.
While I was staying at the apartment, a fire in the apartment caused me and my boyfriend to lose everything. My homeowner's policy covered my loss of my clothing and personal effects that were in the apartment, to the tune of about $33,000. My boyfriend was not insured and has nothing left. Since the fire, we have both moved back to my house.
On the day of the fire and in subsequent interviews, my boyfirend admitted to having lit a candle the morning of the fire and leaving it unattened for about a half hour when he went downstaris to do laundry. It was a 4-inch pillar candle resting on a metal dish made for that purpose, which was sitting on top of a dresser that burned pretty much completely away. The fire broke out while he was in the basment of the apartment building, and he only became aware of the fact that his apartment was on fire when the police and fire department told him. He immediately said he had left a candle burning, and that's what ended up in the police report. The fire department threw a great deal of what burned out the window into the alley, and the building manager had it hauled off before the end of the day. No other apartment units in the building sustained any damage.
Several days after the fire, MY insurance company sent a fire scene investigator to the apartment to determine the cause of the fire. After sifting through everything that was left in the apartment, they told us verbally that there were no remnants of the candle and that they could not determine for certain what cuased the fire. When they interviewed my boyfriend, he admitted to leaving a candle burning while he was downstairs doing laundry.
For whatever reason, neither the building's owner nor their insurance company has contacted my boyfriend about subrogation for the damages to the apartment building.
There are several other potential causes of the fire, in my mind. The person who called the fire department, who was not interviewed by the fire scene investigator, said she saw the air conditioning unit explode out of the window. Also, on the morning of the fire, the cable company had been to the unit to install a computer modem for my laptop computer. The candle had been lit before their arrival. While they were at the apartment, the furniture against the wall where the fire broke out, including the dresser that burned completely (with the candle on it), were moved away from the wall, and placed back into position when they were done. (All of this is described in the fire scene investigator's report.) My boyfriend is not sure what was going on with the candle during all of this - he just knows he never physically blew it out. As soon as the cable company employee left, my boyfriend left the apartment to do the laundry.
Also, my laptop was one of the ones that had a battery that has recently been all over the headlines as causing fires. The laptop was part of what was thrown out the window by the fire department, however, as we saw its half-melted carcess as we were sifting through the stuff in the alley for my boyfriend's wallet before it was hauled away. Although my insurance has covered the laptop, it was not around for the fire scene investigator to inspect.
Finally, the photos taken by both myself and the investigator clearly show a large black "V" on the wall where the fire took place, emanating from the remains of an electrical outlet on the wall, near the cable outlet where the cable company employee had been working that morning. However, the investigator's report said that the remains of the electrical artifacts, power cords, etc. he found were "directionally and externally heat-damaged, and thus eliminated as a potential cause of the fire incident".
The report then states "Further examination of the apartment revealed no additional areas of fire origination."
The report then goes on to describe interviews with myself, my boyfriend, and the building manager, which talks about everything I have already summarized. Finally, the report concludes as follows: "Based on an extensive scene examination, burn pattern analysis, artifacts examined at the scene and interviews, it is my considered opinion that this fire originated at floor level along the east wall of the apartment and was due to open flame ignition of available combustibles by an unattended candle".
The underlining in the above sentence was not in the report, but was done by me to point out that, although the photos of the "V" on the wall certainly make it look like the fire started at floor level, one thing my boyfriend is certain about beyond any doubt is that the candle was never at floor level.
Currently the subrogation contractors hired by my insurance company have not recommended litigation yet - they are still in the information-gathering stage. All they have requested so far from my boyfriend is a statement that he had no insurance at the time, and that he does not consider himself responsible for the damages. My boyfriend sent that letter via certified mail less than a week ago.
What are my boyfriend's chances here? Doesn't the insurance company have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that my boyfried caused the fire in order to collect that kind of money from him? At what point should he get a lawyer involved? If this does go to litigation, is this the type of thing that goes to trial with a jury and everything, or is it handled by lawyers and a judge?
Thanks for any insight you can provide!
My homeowner's insurance company is subrogating against my boyfirend for damages they paid to me as a result of a fire in my boyfriend's apartment.
I am a homeowner with a Homeowners' Insurance Policy. I was staying in an apartment with my boyfriend for about 3 months while my house was for sale. I was not on the lease at my boyfriend's apartment.
While I was staying at the apartment, a fire in the apartment caused me and my boyfriend to lose everything. My homeowner's policy covered my loss of my clothing and personal effects that were in the apartment, to the tune of about $33,000. My boyfriend was not insured and has nothing left. Since the fire, we have both moved back to my house.
On the day of the fire and in subsequent interviews, my boyfirend admitted to having lit a candle the morning of the fire and leaving it unattened for about a half hour when he went downstaris to do laundry. It was a 4-inch pillar candle resting on a metal dish made for that purpose, which was sitting on top of a dresser that burned pretty much completely away. The fire broke out while he was in the basment of the apartment building, and he only became aware of the fact that his apartment was on fire when the police and fire department told him. He immediately said he had left a candle burning, and that's what ended up in the police report. The fire department threw a great deal of what burned out the window into the alley, and the building manager had it hauled off before the end of the day. No other apartment units in the building sustained any damage.
Several days after the fire, MY insurance company sent a fire scene investigator to the apartment to determine the cause of the fire. After sifting through everything that was left in the apartment, they told us verbally that there were no remnants of the candle and that they could not determine for certain what cuased the fire. When they interviewed my boyfriend, he admitted to leaving a candle burning while he was downstairs doing laundry.
For whatever reason, neither the building's owner nor their insurance company has contacted my boyfriend about subrogation for the damages to the apartment building.
There are several other potential causes of the fire, in my mind. The person who called the fire department, who was not interviewed by the fire scene investigator, said she saw the air conditioning unit explode out of the window. Also, on the morning of the fire, the cable company had been to the unit to install a computer modem for my laptop computer. The candle had been lit before their arrival. While they were at the apartment, the furniture against the wall where the fire broke out, including the dresser that burned completely (with the candle on it), were moved away from the wall, and placed back into position when they were done. (All of this is described in the fire scene investigator's report.) My boyfriend is not sure what was going on with the candle during all of this - he just knows he never physically blew it out. As soon as the cable company employee left, my boyfriend left the apartment to do the laundry.
Also, my laptop was one of the ones that had a battery that has recently been all over the headlines as causing fires. The laptop was part of what was thrown out the window by the fire department, however, as we saw its half-melted carcess as we were sifting through the stuff in the alley for my boyfriend's wallet before it was hauled away. Although my insurance has covered the laptop, it was not around for the fire scene investigator to inspect.
Finally, the photos taken by both myself and the investigator clearly show a large black "V" on the wall where the fire took place, emanating from the remains of an electrical outlet on the wall, near the cable outlet where the cable company employee had been working that morning. However, the investigator's report said that the remains of the electrical artifacts, power cords, etc. he found were "directionally and externally heat-damaged, and thus eliminated as a potential cause of the fire incident".
The report then states "Further examination of the apartment revealed no additional areas of fire origination."
The report then goes on to describe interviews with myself, my boyfriend, and the building manager, which talks about everything I have already summarized. Finally, the report concludes as follows: "Based on an extensive scene examination, burn pattern analysis, artifacts examined at the scene and interviews, it is my considered opinion that this fire originated at floor level along the east wall of the apartment and was due to open flame ignition of available combustibles by an unattended candle".
The underlining in the above sentence was not in the report, but was done by me to point out that, although the photos of the "V" on the wall certainly make it look like the fire started at floor level, one thing my boyfriend is certain about beyond any doubt is that the candle was never at floor level.
Currently the subrogation contractors hired by my insurance company have not recommended litigation yet - they are still in the information-gathering stage. All they have requested so far from my boyfriend is a statement that he had no insurance at the time, and that he does not consider himself responsible for the damages. My boyfriend sent that letter via certified mail less than a week ago.
What are my boyfriend's chances here? Doesn't the insurance company have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that my boyfried caused the fire in order to collect that kind of money from him? At what point should he get a lawyer involved? If this does go to litigation, is this the type of thing that goes to trial with a jury and everything, or is it handled by lawyers and a judge?
Thanks for any insight you can provide!