Doing without House Insurance

[Eireann]

That is incorrect.
You can only be held responsible for a fire if it is due to negligence on your part.
You do have a duty as a property owner to take all reasonable measures to guard against the outbreak of a fire.
If for example you were storing hazardous goods in a dangerous manner and they caught fire which spread to the adjoining property you would likely be considered liable.
A court case Nugent-v-Foley 2015 held this to be the case.

If on the other hand if you forgot that an electrical appliance was still on and it was the cause of a fire this would (most likely) be considered accidental and you would not be held responsible for damage to a neighbouring property

Thank you for good concise information and a reference.

 

[Ed054]

Read this slowly line by line.

I will start with the conclusion just so you do not get confused. You absolutely need buildings insurance.

1) Your house burns down and does not damage anyone else's
Your insurance company will fix the problem.

2) Your house burns down and damages your neighbour's house
You will be liable for the damage done to their house.
Your insurance company will pay for the damage done to their house

3) Your neighbour's house burns down and damages your house
3A) Neither of you have any insurance
You can claim off your neighbour but they probably won't be able to compensate you.
3B) Your neighbour has insurance but you don't.
You can claim off your neigjbour and their insurance company will compensate you
3C) You have insurance but your neighbour doesn't.
Your insurance company will compensate you and may go after your neighbour
3D) You both have insurance.
Your insurance company will compensate you and then discuss the matter with the other insurance company.

In all cases, you are better off with your own insurance.

Item 2) You will not be liable to damage to your neighbours property if the cause was accidental.
There has to be negligence on your part.
If for example you were using a blow torch in the attic and a fire broke out you would be considered negligent.
If on the other hand you forgot to plug out a phone charger which caught fire this would be considered as accidental.
Item 3) To make a successful claim you will have to prove negligence against your neighbour.
Item 3B) You cannot just make a claim against your neighbour-Negligence is the key.

 

[Ed054]

So, you claim under your own policy if you have insurance and neighbor claims under theirs, if they have insurance.

And if neighbor doesn't have insurance, tough luck?

Basically yes.