Homeowner's Insurance help needed on property damage....

[TEEZLE]

Basically, yesterday's hurricane (meant to say tornado not hurricane) broke the neighbor's chimeny and it fell on top of our garage damaging the roof and siding. Luckily no holes were done but the roof will probably need to be repalced along with some siding and other roof work.

My neighbor stated he called his insurance company. So I went ahead and called mine.
My insurance company said that since it was an act of nature, we are liable. And that means I have to pay my $1k deductible!!!!!!!!!

The funny part is, my neigbor's contractor came by today and said that there were only 4 nails holding my neighbor's chimney to their house!!! So it was inevitable that it would one day fall!!

My neighbor is being great about this whole ordeal and he made a comment that he has a $500 deductible. But I did not say anything about how I spoke with my insurance company.

But does this whole situation sound right that I will have to pay for the repairs to my house when the neighbor's chimney hit us?!

Thanks in advance.

Have an album with pics here:
Pics of broken chimney

 

[waggy]

wouldnt it be on his home owners insurance and not yours?

 

[mugs]

4 nails holding a chimney to a house? What kind of chimney are we talking about?

 

[Vette73]

Sorry but I don;t see how that is YOUR fault. Its still his property that damaged yours.


have you called his insurance yet? If nto do that and myabe you will nto need to mess with yours.

Oh and get a new insurance company and/or rer-read the policy you signed up for.

 

[waggy]

wouldnt it be on his home owners insurance and not yours?


no matter what why wouldnt you have to pay your deductible? if youa re getting something covered by insurance thats what the deductible is for?

really your post is kina err confusing.

 

[amdskip]

I too would think it would be on his insurance. Was this like a metal chimney?

 

[Lola]

Nope... not how it works. As stupid as it sounds, it will fall under your home owners insurance. not theirs.
If they were "nice" they perhaps could offer to pay the amount your deductible is for, but basically, it is your issue. The main cause for the claim will be the hurricane, not the neighbors shotty house.

 

[TEEZLE]

It's not a brick one but one made with 2x4s and "particle board" that had siding on it. It's a wood fireplace that came with their house new (about 10 years old). I am going to try and put up some pics this evening when i get home from work.

 

[nakedfrog]

No wonder insurance companies make so much money...

 

[shocksyde]

The most amazing thing about this thread is that a hurricane hit this guy's house, yet there was no hurricane in Maryland yesterday.

Tornado, perhaps?

 

[kranky]

You would be able to go to small claims court to get reimbursed for your damages.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: shocksyde
The most amazing thing about this thread is that a hurricane hit this guy's house, yet there was no hurricane in Maryland yesterday.

Tornado, perhaps?

i was wondering that myself.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: kranky
You would be able to go to small claims court to get reimbursed for your damages.

from who? mother nature? if there was a hurricane (more likely tornado or such) then it was a act of god.

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: kranky
You would be able to go to small claims court to get reimbursed for your damages.

from who? mother nature? if there was a hurricane (more likely tornado or such) then it was a act of god.

You sue the neighbor for the damages. It was the neighbor's improperly secured chimney which caused the damage. I don't think that falls into "act of god". I wonder if the OP's insurance company is aware of the shoddy construction.

Let's say it was a tree. If the tree was healthy, then "act of god". If the tree was dead, then there is negligence. I think a chimney attached with 4 nails falls in to the same category.

 

[AmpedSilence]

don't you have insurance to protect against 'acts of nature/god'?

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: Lola
Nope... not how it works. As stupid as it sounds, it will fall under your home owners insurance. not theirs.
If they were "nice" they perhaps could offer to pay the amount your deductible is for, but basically, it is your issue. The main cause for the claim will be the hurricane, not the neighbors shotty house.

She speaks the truth.

The way insurance works is what was the initial cause that the entire event started with. In this case it is a *hurricane* in Maryland, which AFAIK there have not been any but who knows. Most likely this will fall under a "wind" peril code, meaning that high winds are what caused the chimney to come off. Your neighbors insurance will not cover this, because wind is an "Act of God/Mother Nature/etc".

Talk with your agent if you want, but they won't know for sure I bet as they are just there to sell policies and make changes to them. If you filed a claim under your policy then when the adjuster contacts you, ask them. They are going to be the ones who will tell you what your state laws say and why it would not be covered by your neighbors insurance.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: kranky

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: kranky
You would be able to go to small claims court to get reimbursed for your damages.

from who? mother nature? if there was a hurricane (more likely tornado or such) then it was a act of god.

You sue the neighbor for the damages. It was the neighbor's improperly secured chimney which caused the damage. I don't think that falls into "act of god". I wonder if the OP's insurance company is aware of the shoddy construction.

Let's say it was a tree. If the tree was healthy, then "act of god". If the tree was dead, then there is negligence. I think a chimney attached with 4 nails falls in to the same category.

good luck trying. if there was a tornado/hurricane etc he is not going to win.

Originally posted by: AmpedSilence
don't you have insurance to protect against 'acts of nature/god'?

yes he does. they are also willing to pay out. he just has a $1000 deductible.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: Lola
Nope... not how it works. As stupid as it sounds, it will fall under your home owners insurance. not theirs.
If they were "nice" they perhaps could offer to pay the amount your deductible is for, but basically, it is your issue. The main cause for the claim will be the hurricane, not the neighbors shotty house.

yip

the normal course is to pay the deductable to get your house fixed, ithen ask your neighbor to pay you for the damage that he caused, f they dont pay up you take them to small claims.

 

[dainthomas]

After reviewing radar imagery for the last two day, I found no hurricanes in Maryland. Looked like some decent thunderstorms though.

 

[PingSpike]

What I don't understand is the insurance company saying that you're liable because it was an "act of god"....WTF do you have insurance for if not for "acts of god"?

 

[beat mania]

I would suggest hitting up your neighbor for repair money and don't involve your home insurance on it. Home insurance isn't like auto insurance, you don't want to make claims everytime your house gets dented. If you make small claims like this often they will drop you.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: shocksyde
The most amazing thing about this thread is that a hurricane hit this guy's house, yet there was no hurricane in Maryland yesterday.

Tornado, perhaps?

QFT...and a WOOD chimney?

I am calling shens....

Still if a windstorm creates an airborne projectile the way it works is you cover the damage to you own house...not the other owner. Otherwise you'd have those making all sorts of claims during these storms.

 

[sactoking]

Homeowner's Insurance, like most other Property & Casualty insurance, covers for LIABILITY for damage caused. That's why 'Act of God', terrorism, nuclear war, etc. are specifically excluded. No actuary or underwriter can possibly predict those losses.

In this case, for your neighbor's policy to cover the damage, you'd have to prove that your neighbor was legally liable (aka negligent) for the loss. An improperly secured chimney sounds like a construction defect. The contractor COULD be held liable, but good luck getting that to stick 10 years later (they're probably out of business). The homeowner has owned the home for 10 years w/o incident. There apparently was no indication of potential to harm, which is not the case with a dead tree or branch. A "reasonable person" would not be expected to climb onto the roof to ensure that their chimney was properly anchored. Heck, a "reasonable person" would not know what a properly anchored chimney looks like! Unfortunately, it is pretty clear that your neighbor was not negligent in his home upkeep and if he was not negligent he cannot be liable for the damages.

Depending on the severity of the damage, you very well may be better off not filing the claim with your insurer. Many insurers are looking for excuses to non-renew policies. Heck, in this insurance climate, they could non-renew just because you called and asked! If the damages were enough to warrant a claim, you would be assessed the deductible. Since no one is legally liable, you get to foot the bill. Fun, huh? In reality, it's similar to filing an auto insurance claim. If someone hits your car in the parking lot and you come back and there's no note, you have to pony up the deductible. This is pretty much the same thing.

Here's one thing to check out. Almost all homeowner's policies I have ever seen contain a "good neighbor" provision. This clause allows your neighbor to pay up to $500 from his policy without admitting liability. It is most often used in friendly situations with minor damage or injuries. If you're playing in the back yard and run into the fence and knock it over, you can have your insurance pay $500 to have it fixed. You could suggest this to your neighbor as a possibility.

 

[compman25]

Originally posted by: beat mania
I would suggest hitting up your neighbor for repair money and don't involve your home insurance on it. Home insurance isn't like auto insurance, you don't want to make claims everytime your house gets dented. If you make small claims like this often they will drop you.

Not only that, but claims stay with the house, not the person. So when you sell it the next person could get screwed with higher rates because of claims made in the past by you. And that can be a reason to back out of a deal to purchase.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: TEEZLE
Basically, yesterday's hurricane broke the neighbor's chimeny and it fell on top of our garage damaging the roof and siding. Luckily no holes were done but the roof will probably need to be repalced along with some siding and other roof work.

My neighbor stated he called his insurance company. So I went ahead and called mine.
My insurance company said that since it was an act of nature, we are liable. And that means I have to pay my $1k deductible!!!!!!!!!

The funny part is, my neigbor's contractor came by today and said that there were only 4 nails holding my neighbor's chimney to their house!!! So it was inevitable that it would one day fall!!

My neighbor is being great about this whole ordeal and he made a comment that he has a $500 deductible. But I did not say anything about how I spoke with my insurance company.

But does this whole situation sound right that I will have to pay for the repairs to my house when the neighbor's chimney hit us?!

Thanks in advance.

what insurance company do u have? they suck

it should be like car insurance. someone hits u. u file a claim w/your insurance company. your insurance company fixes your car under collision, thus a deductible. when your insurance company collects from his insurance company, you get your deductible back.

sounds like your home insurance company is being lazy/incompetant.