Arson in rental property - how to deal with insurance co?

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Setanta12

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Rental property between tenancies, being refurbished was broken into with sofa set on fire. Cue much damage to entire semi-d house with ceiling/walls of affected room even pulled asunder by fire-brigade to ensure no lingering sparks to carry into next property.

House carries intense toxic smoke smell.

House in N.E. by about 50% or 50,000. Damage I estimate as running to tens-of-thousands but I have no clue as to how to value these things except everything seems destroyed/affected.

Have to ring insurer Monday. What is the process, what are the pitfalls, the timeframes?
 
You shouldn't try to manage a major claim like this on your own. Call an Assessor before you call the insurance company.
 
Oh. While I was definitely thinking about calling an assessor - I presume there's assessors in every regional town - I was going to call the insurance company first and then look for an assessor.

Should I engage an assessor and let them engage the insurance company? What about delays in registering the claim, and timeframes overall?
 
I won't claim to know the answers to those questions.

However I would have a slight concern over the claim. Was the break-in and arson reported to the Gardai. I think that this is essential and you might need the assessors advice.

Certainly I wouldn't let Monday go by without informing the insurers.
 
Gardai notified, and finger pointed towards local kids who were seen in another vacant property in locality which also went on fire.
 
You can report the claim initially and tell them you are readying estimates. And the get an assessor to do the leg work.
 
Setanta12 said:
Have to ring insurer Monday. What is the process, what are the pitfalls, the timeframes?
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You ring the insurance company, you hire an assessor who will work with the guy from the insurance company and they hopefully will agree a figure that will pay for your house to be put back in one piece. The pitfall is that insurance companies are very tough to deal with. In my last case I didn't use an assessor and instead used my builder, but he's very competent at this kind of thing and I got enough to pay for it after much negotation and it did take time as it was a storm damage over Christmas but also the insurance company dragged their feet so you have to manage that.

They will send you a claim form. As it's arson I assume they will want a Garda report. You should also be able to claim for loss of rent, check your terms and conditions.

The only potential pitfall I can 'imagine' is if there is some rule about the property being empty, but genearlly it's after 30 days.
 
Assessors seem to be coming in around 12.5% (10% plus VAT) of settlement costs - are they value for money?
 
Setanta12 said:
Assessors seem to be coming in around 12.5% (10% plus VAT) of settlement costs - are they value for money?
Click to expand...

In this case is there any possibility that the insurance company could deny liability. Perhaps because the property was vacant, or because there was no evidence of a break in. In all likelihood they won't be a problem, but if the insurer sees a way to deny liability then perhaps an experienced assessor, could prevent that.

If liability is not an issue, then I suppose that it depends on how much effort you want to put in yourself. But I do think there would be a big difference between a DIY claim and one prepared by a good assessor.
 
Unoccupancy will be an issue here. When did last tenant move out? More than likely, that tenant will be contacted by insurer. What is teh period of unoccupancy allowed under your Policy?
 
I am inside 30 days* and if the insurance company can find the tenants, they should notify the Gardai!

*am unsure as to the duration allowed under my policy however.
 
Setanta12 said:
Assessors seem to be coming in around 12.5% (10% plus VAT) of settlement costs - are they value for money?
Click to expand...

I negotiated a set fee. But as I said last time I went it alone with just my good builder as I'm aware that nowadays it's impossible to get back the assessor cost in the claim as well as the repair costs. You can go alone of course but be prepared for a fight. When it's a large claim and if you're not confident of dealing with them it can be daunting. Your case is more complicated as we have arson, missing tenant, possibility of vacant house clause etc.
 
I'm confused, who damanged the house, thought you said it was broked into, by the ex tenant?

Has the arson been reported by you to the Gardai?
 
I was confused by setantas last 2 comments. Did the previous tenants cause the damage or was the house broken into? What exactly did you report to the gardai?
 
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