If a fire in the flat next door damages my home, who pays?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

The quickest route is your own home insurance, which pays you for the fire damage even if the fire started in another home. It normally also covers damage caused by the measures taken to put it out, such as the water used by the fire brigade or a door forced open. Then, if the fire was due to the neighbour's carelessness, your insurer will claim against the neighbour and the neighbour's insurer. If you have no insurance, you can claim directly against the neighbour and his or her insurer, but you will have to prove where and why the fire started. With home insurance Notify your insurer within seven days and do not throw anything away without taking photos first. Within five days of notifying the claim, send your insurer a written list of what was there and what has been saved, together with an estimate of the damage. The insurance pays for the fire damage, the damage caused by the measures taken to contain or put out the fire and the salvage costs. It also pays for items that go missing during the fire, provided you can show that you had them, unless the insurer proves that they were taken in a burglary or stolen. If your policy includes alternative accommodation, it will also pay for a hotel or rented accommodation while your home cannot be lived in. You can claim anything your policy does not cover, such as the excess, from the neighbour yourself. Without insurance, or for whatever is not covered Ask for the fire brigade's report and, if the police were involved, the police report. They usually state where and how the fire started. Make a written claim against the neighbour and his or her liability insurer. You will have to prove the origin and cause of the fire, for example a poorly maintained appliance belonging to the neighbour or the neighbour's carelessness. If the cause is unknown or a matter of pure chance, the neighbour may not be liable. You have one year to claim against the neighbour, or three if the incident occurred in Catalonia. You can claim against your own insurer for two years. If the fire started in a common area If it started in the building's main electrical installation, in the meter room or in another common part, the owners' association is usually liable and its insurance pays, although here too the cause has to be proved. Damage to the façade, the staircase and the other common parts is normally covered by the owners' association's insurance. An ordinary fire is not an extraordinary risk, so the “Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros”, Spain's state insurance compensation fund, does not pay for it.