Am I insured???

Question

During the storms last week some roof tiles fell from my house and smashed into our neighbours car.

I called the insurance company who initially said, no problem, the neighbours car is covered under our "occupiers liability" insurance (as we expected). Now however, they are stating that the neighbours have to claim off their car insurance as we are not liable, because they claim the storm caused the slates to fall, not us personally!
This came as a complete shock to us and does not seem right at all - we asked someone who used to work for a loss adjusters and they think we would be covered. Does anyone working in insurance know where we stand? We simply cannot expect our neighbours to have to pay out an excess and lose their no claims because of our house!

Incidentally, we are definately covered against storm damage, that is specifically worded in the policy and our roof is fully covered.

Answer 1

You (and your homeowner's insurance company) are NOT liable for this!

Your neighbors do have to claim this on THEIR insurance. If they have no comp coverage, it's out of THEIR pockets.

This and similar cases are all over the news here in MO where we've been hammered by the storms. The only case where you would be liable is if there was a hazard that your neighbor had asked you to abate in a timely manner and you had failed to act in a timely manner

An example would be a tree dead tree limb that hung over the property line and threatened damage to their property. IF they brought this to your attention and IF you failed to act in a reasonable period of time and IF they could PROVE that they had asked you to fix the problem, ONLY THEN could you be held liable. If they told you about it as the storm rolled in you probably would not be liable. If they had told you several weeks prior then you might well be liable. The key is that they must be able to PROVE that they notified you of the problem and the risk to their property.

Unless the roof slates were in obvious disrepair and the neighbor had notified you of the hazard to their property well in advance of the storm, you and your homeowner's insurance company are off the hook on this.

Answer 2

What if a hailstorm hit and damaged your neighbors car? Is that anyone's fault except nature? High winds and storm situations usually exempt the homeowner from any liability such as roof shingles striking a vehicle. If you had a ladder leaning against your home and the wind blew it onto a car it might be viewed as negligence on your part, thus it would be a covered loss under homeowners insurance. If your roof were under repair and some extra slates placed on the slope of the roof simply 'fell' onto the car for no apparent reason, it would also be covered. If you feel that bad about it just pay for the entire cost of repair so your neighbor doesn't have to file a claim.

Answer 3

well it is better for you to have your neighbor claim it against their own insurance since it will cost their insurer and not yours. I would say that you are covered either way but if your neighbors are willing to claim it with thier insurance company and not yours then let them do so. But either way you are covered but one way costs you in an increase in your premiums for a few years and the other costs them an increase. Just know that insurance companies will always get their money back somehow just depends on if you want to pay them back or your neighbors.

Answer 4

That doesn't sound right. A similar thing happend to us during the storms as well. We have been told that we are covered and our neighbours claim through us. i would read through your insurance policy details and it should tell you on there. I hope we don't end up with the same problem your having!! good luck!

Answer 5

Hello,

(ANS) Having read through your question, its my opinion that your nahbours can and should put in a claim against your insurance for damage to their car due to either a) storm damage or b) could also be covered as an act of god (clause) meaning the tiles coming off the property and hitting the car could not have been predicted or fore seen (i.e. its a random event).

**If you have buildings insurance on your property (i.e. covering the fabric of the house) then this is what your nahbours should make the claim against.

**Your nahbours insurance company will make a claim against your own insurance company. Let the hassle of this be delt with by the x2 insurance companies if they want to wrangle over the finer technical details of cause & effect. But it seems a fairly clear case in my opinion, your nahours should claim against your house insurance.

**NOTE:- (after thought) Dont forget that you yourselves should be able to claim against your insurance for storm damage to the roof and get the slates replaced ASAP!!

IR

Answer 6

A few friends and family had trouble in the storms with roof tiles and fences etc.
None of them were covered as a storm is classed as an act of god and therefore any insurance does not cover it.

Answer 7

Don't know about this case as I would need the policy before me. But the general rule with insurance of any kind is that you are fully covered ..right up to the moment you make a claim.

Answer 8

I would insure my skin, this is the biggest organ of my body and holds the other stuff in. Do you wish to insure your boo~tay because you use it a lot? Life is not a spectator sport.

Answer 9

In order for your insurance to pay for the damages to your neighbors vehicle you would have to liable for the shingles coming off of your roof. If would have to be your fault, not the storms fault that your shingles flew off the roof.

Since it isn't your fault, your neighbors have to turn in a claim under their insurance. The example that Bostonian used is a great example and the one that I give to most of my clients when they ask this type of question.

I understand that you may feel guilty because you feel it was your shingles making it your fault that their vehicle got damaged but it was the storm that caused the damage, not you.
Your neighbors need to turn in a claim under thier own insurance. If they have comprehensive coverage the damage to their vehicle will be covered.

Answer 10

This is a typical ploy by some insurance companies. Going on the info. to hand, you are covered, and the insurance company will have to stump up for damage caused to anothers property by flying debris from yours. Pursue it relentlessly.