Do you think that homeowners insurance will cover this?

[daughtersrus]

A neighbor of ours had their house destroyed by fire this past weekend. The night prior, they had a fire in a fire pit. The next morning, the husband emptied the ashes in the pit into a plastic bag and laid it against the back of their house before going to work his shift as a firefighter at one of our fire stations. The ashes reignited and the entire house was destroyed. No one was home at the time and a neighbor called 911. The homeowner was one of the first trucks to respond to the fire but by the time it was under control, there wasn't much left. Some people have said that the insurance many not cover this accident but others say that it will. I'm sure it depends on the policy but thought that there may be some insurance experts here that could give an opinion or two.

 

[MariDisney]

I have no idea about the insurance. But, I feel terribly for that family. Anyone could do something stupid and in an instant your life is changed. I hope they're covered.

 

[Justanopinion]

Well, I sure hope they are covered. You know his job could be on the line now also. Let's hope that's not the case.


I have a similar story too. DH's step grandfather did something pretty stupid like that. They had a woodburning stove in the back room of their house. For some reason he kept gas in a milk jug for the stove. He once put the milk carton on top of the hot stove...yep, it went up in flames. Thankfully, DH was just next door and they started screaming for him and DH was able to get it put out.

 

[daughtersrus]

I have no idea about the insurance. But, I feel terribly for that family. Anyone could do something stupid and in an instant your life is changed. I hope they're covered.

You're right. It was a bad choice of words but I don't know how to edit the title for the thread.

I think that the community is trying to raise some money for this family. I know that the school has already replaced some of the awards that were given to the children this past week.

 

[Robinrs]

You're right. It was a bad choice of words but I don't know how to edit the title for the thread.

I think that the community is trying to raise some money for this family. I know that the school has already replaced some of the awards that were given to the children this past week.

Edit your post and go into ADVANCED EDIT and you will be able to edit the thread title.

It is sort of ironic that he was a firefighter, though

 

[jmskinner]

I can't believe a fireman did that. I'm sure the others aren't giving him a hard time right now, but they will soon.

I had a grease fire and my DH was director of operations at the fire school. Sure didn't help that the guys that delivered my new stove were some of the schools instructors.

As far as insurance goes, I would think they would pay for it. It is also possible they won't cover him again and it could be difficult to get insurance later on. Most companies look at the insureds history when writing a new policy.

 

[luvmy3]

Unless it was proven to be deliberate, it would be an accident. Isn't that why you have Homeowner's insurance, to protect your home in case of an accident, whether man or mother nature caused it?
I have to admit, I do wonder how a firefighter could make such a mistake

 

[DVC-Don]

Sounds strange a firefighter would do that and I bet the SIU (Special Investigations Unit) of the insurance company takes a long hard look at it.

We had a client a few years ago that cleaned out his fireplace in the house using a paper bag that he put in the garage. They were awakened a 2AM by the smoke detector and when the family went out the front door, flames were over their heads.

 

[C.Ann]

I've heard of pay-outs by homeowners insurance companies denied for some pretty crazy reasons - hopefully this isn't one of them.. While he "should" have known better, people often do things in a rush or without thinking and then realize, "Why the heck did I do such a stupid thing??"

I'm sure it will be thoroughly investigated though - to be sure he wasn't having financial problems that might lead to arson.. If there is a pay-out, I don't think it will be "quick"..

 

[daughtersrus]

Edit your post and go into ADVANCED EDIT and you will be able to edit the thread title.

It is sort of ironic that he was a firefighter, though

Thank you!

 

[DebbieB]

As long as it isn't ruled arson, it should be covered. I work for an insurance company and there is no stupidity exclusion.

 

[Plantlady]

My dad once worked a claim, where a police man was watching tv, still had his gun on, and got caught up in the western he was watching, drew his gun, and shot the tv. Brand new tv.

It was covered.

He was not home when my dad showed up.. to embarrassed.

I bet this will be covered too.

 

[Green Tea]

I can't imagine that it wouldn't be covered.

 

[jimmalru80]

Covered.

 

[ZachnElli]

I also work in insurance and I also vote covered.

 

[TaraPA]

Same exact thing happened to us in 2000...not nearly as tragic - just our wood shed burned down - but it was covered. We also had a wood burning stove, and used to set the metal container of ashes on the driveway to cool for 24 hours before dumping them in a huge barrel to be dumped later. One day we didn't have the metal container lid on tight & it blew off - and hot ashes blew about 10 feet into the shed where we stored our firewood. It went up in an instant. Thank God my dad was there babysitting & went out in our garage to put his soda can in the recycling & saw the flames. The wood shed was only 10 feet from the house - a cedar home - imagine how quickly that would have gone up. He called 911 & thankfully for us, our local volunteer fire company (which was only 2 miles away) was having a get together that night at the firehouse - so they responded within minutes. We were soooooo lucky!

 

[a1tinkfans]

I've heard of pay-outs by homeowners insurance companies denied for some pretty crazy reasons - hopefully this isn't one of them.. While he "should" have known better, people often do things in a rush or without thinking and then realize, "Why the heck did I do such a stupid thing??"

I'm sure it will be thoroughly investigated though - to be sure he wasn't having financial problems that might lead to arson.. If there is a pay-out, I don't think it will be "quick"..

as long as they do not think it is arson it would be covered.

Stupidity is not an exclusion,
so sad indeed!!

 

[JMD]

My dad once worked a claim, where a police man was watching tv, still had his gun on, and got caught up in the western he was watching, drew his gun, and shot the tv. Brand new tv.

It was covered.

He was not home when my dad showed up.. to embarrassed.

I bet this will be covered too.

That is hysterical.


To the Op, it should be covered.