What if you didn’t get it inspected and house burned down because of it?
Insurance still pay or not?
Non Inspected DIY installation burn house down are they still paying?
That is the question being asked.
In my case, I'm US with State Farm. An inadequate, DIY generator exhaust thimble thru-the-shed-wall started a fire after 1.5yrs of generator runs - NOTE: DIY all the way here.
The insurance company paid MY damage with no trouble.
However, the fire resulted in property damage to 2 x of my neighbors - on the order of 20K of claims overall. As I understand the process - the question then becomes - do "I" pay (e.g. does State Farm pay) or is it the responsibility of the neighbors to collect from their respective insurances - who in turn might sue me personally.
Because of the DIY nature there is no product manufacturer to point a finger to and the damage extending beyond my property, State Farm called in an full IAAI fire investigator for a court level factual report. They didn't share details but 1) The fire was found free of Arson or Fraud however.... 2) negligence was found. I don't know the level of negligence - I assume it was not gross negligence, but more like lessor/accidental negligence of failing to do all I could (such as storing propane tanks near a shed wall that could burn) which activates the "Liability" portion of my policy.
Thus, State Farm has decided they will deal with the neighbors - so in a way it's good for me as they are experts and will get sign-off before paying so I won't likely get sued. Fortunately (both morally and legally) there was no people or pet injury and one guy said "it's just property damage" which I took to mean it's much easier to settle. *This is why it's important to have high liability in addition to just 'your' coverage! 100K, 300K, or 500K is typical - I have 300K. What if the fire had caught a neighbor's house on fire? and negligence is determined.
It's only been 5 weeks, so I don't know the final outcome yet. And will State Farm offer a renewal of my insurance when it comes due in a few months?
I'd be interested from any insurance people or others that have been thru this if my description above makes sense. There's no useable info on Google and all involved are pretty tight lipped with me.
State Farm folks have all been very nice I have to say.