ᐅ House Uninhabitable Due to Neighbor's Fire – Who Is Responsible for the Costs?
Created on: 7 Mar 2021 20:02
A
andimann
Good evening.
Not our house, but my brother’s. Last night, there was a fire in the neighboring house to my brother’s. The fire department woke them up during the night, and they had to leave the house wearing only their nightwear, with two small children. Thankfully, there were no cases of smoke inhalation or other physical injuries. My brother told me that when they left, the house was already completely filled with smoke, and the smoke had penetrated through all the cracks in the walls and floors (an at least 350-year-old historic building).
First of all, big thanks to the Heidelberg fire department… if they had arrived just a few minutes later, it would have been really bad, as these houses don’t have a second escape route.
Today, they were allowed to briefly enter the house with accompaniment to retrieve essential items. The strong smell of smoke inside was immediately noticeable, and worse yet, small soot streaks were visible in many cracks and gaps in the walls and floors. In other words, the smoke really penetrated every corner. We’re not just talking about wiping down surfaces with a damp cloth and being done. Rather, this will likely require renovations lasting several weeks, possibly including replacing floors, and then probably several months in total. If historic preservation authorities get involved, it could take even longer.
Now the question is, which insurance covers what and to what extent? This seems to be much less clearly regulated than with traffic accidents, and my initial online research shows very different information. Are there fixed rules? Or does it really depend on whether the tenant in the neighboring house even has personal liability insurance?
Best regards,
Andreas
Not our house, but my brother’s. Last night, there was a fire in the neighboring house to my brother’s. The fire department woke them up during the night, and they had to leave the house wearing only their nightwear, with two small children. Thankfully, there were no cases of smoke inhalation or other physical injuries. My brother told me that when they left, the house was already completely filled with smoke, and the smoke had penetrated through all the cracks in the walls and floors (an at least 350-year-old historic building).
First of all, big thanks to the Heidelberg fire department… if they had arrived just a few minutes later, it would have been really bad, as these houses don’t have a second escape route.
Today, they were allowed to briefly enter the house with accompaniment to retrieve essential items. The strong smell of smoke inside was immediately noticeable, and worse yet, small soot streaks were visible in many cracks and gaps in the walls and floors. In other words, the smoke really penetrated every corner. We’re not just talking about wiping down surfaces with a damp cloth and being done. Rather, this will likely require renovations lasting several weeks, possibly including replacing floors, and then probably several months in total. If historic preservation authorities get involved, it could take even longer.
Now the question is, which insurance covers what and to what extent? This seems to be much less clearly regulated than with traffic accidents, and my initial online research shows very different information. Are there fixed rules? Or does it really depend on whether the tenant in the neighboring house even has personal liability insurance?
Best regards,
Andreas
A
Alessandro8 Mar 2021 08:53haydee schrieb:
At that time, it was dismissed because the toddler was the cause. Supervisory duty was not breached.
That may have changed, but it was 20 years ago. Someone would just need to have successfully challenged the rejection, including through legal action. The child sets the house on fire, but the supervisory duty was not breached? Interesting.
H
HilfeHilfe8 Mar 2021 09:08Interesting. I suspect it will be a back-and-forth between fire insurance, the brother’s building insurance, and his household contents insurance.
I think these topics are always underestimated.
I think these topics are always underestimated.
Hello,
first of all, thank you for the responses. The topic does seem to be quite complicated. An important detail is that my brother is also a tenant, and his landlord naturally has building insurance, while my brother has contents insurance. However, in my opinion, these insurances are initially not relevant to this situation.
The other building caught fire, and the cause of the damage comes from there, so I would actually expect their insurance companies to handle everything. If someone crashes into my car, I only settle it through the other party’s insurance. I never even inform my own insurer.
What exactly happened is still unclear. One thing is certain: it was not a small child; the tenant in the neighboring house is reported to be 29 years old.
Currently, the main concern for my brother is accommodation. It will likely end up being a long-term rental of an Airbnb apartment. Due to COVID-19, these are currently easy to find, so that part should be manageable. However, in Heidelberg, such rentals can easily cost between 3,000 to 5,000 euros per month. You definitely want to be sure that those costs will be covered without any problems.
Based on my brother’s description, I rather doubt they will be able to move back in within the next few months. It will probably result in a complete relocation.
Only after that will he have questions like:
So many questions...
Best regards,
Andreas
first of all, thank you for the responses. The topic does seem to be quite complicated. An important detail is that my brother is also a tenant, and his landlord naturally has building insurance, while my brother has contents insurance. However, in my opinion, these insurances are initially not relevant to this situation.
The other building caught fire, and the cause of the damage comes from there, so I would actually expect their insurance companies to handle everything. If someone crashes into my car, I only settle it through the other party’s insurance. I never even inform my own insurer.
What exactly happened is still unclear. One thing is certain: it was not a small child; the tenant in the neighboring house is reported to be 29 years old.
Currently, the main concern for my brother is accommodation. It will likely end up being a long-term rental of an Airbnb apartment. Due to COVID-19, these are currently easy to find, so that part should be manageable. However, in Heidelberg, such rentals can easily cost between 3,000 to 5,000 euros per month. You definitely want to be sure that those costs will be covered without any problems.
Based on my brother’s description, I rather doubt they will be able to move back in within the next few months. It will probably result in a complete relocation.
Only after that will he have questions like:
- Who pays for cleaning household items that cannot be machine-washed (sofas, mattresses, furniture)?
- Who pays for items that cannot be cleaned of soot and smoke odor?
- Who covers small expenses like all the food that now has to be thrown away?
- How do you decide what can be salvaged and what cannot? How can you be sure that cleaned items are safe from a health perspective? He definitely does not want to sit with small children on a sofa that might still contain smoke residues such as dioxins or similar substances.
So many questions...
Best regards,
Andreas
M
Myrna_Loy8 Mar 2021 10:52There are experts for this—such as those from DEKRA. But before involving them, you should clarify the insurance situation to ensure that cost coverage is arranged. It might be helpful to check with the local tenants' association or renters’ union.
Alessandro schrieb:
The child sets the house on fire, but no breach of supervision was involved? Interesting.I thought so too.