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I do hope that any damage you all suffered from storm Katie last night was minimal preferably absent. Unfortunately being in Sussex, many of us weren't so fortunate, although my own damage was minor compared to many. It has however been an eye-opener in terms of insurance and the effects of neighbours.
Aside from damage to my roof and porch, I lost my side fence, and my insurer (RSA) told me that they do not cover damaged fences from storms, and apparently that is commonplace. And another thing - the fence which was uprooted in the storm (it was in good order) landed against one of my neighbour's cars. I discussed this with my insurance company who said that storm damage is considered to be an Act of God and that nobody is held liable. They told me that any damage caused to a neighbour's property would require the neighbour to make a claim off their own insurance in the normal way, with the possibility of their insurance company making a counterclaim against mine. Fortunately my neighbour's car wasn't damaged, but if it had been my neighbour made it clear that he would have held me liable for his (very high) insurance excess - in fact he would not have wanted to make a claim at all with respect to the possibility of his premium going up. So even though I am not liable for damage caused by an act of God, it appears that neighbours would nevertheless expect one to pay for damage to their property so that they can avoid their own insurance claim. I sure as hell wouldn't be able to afford to do that, particularly as I have to replace my fencing out of my own pocket. Does anyone have experience of being in that situation?
Aside from damage to my roof and porch, I lost my side fence, and my insurer (RSA) told me that they do not cover damaged fences from storms, and apparently that is commonplace. And another thing - the fence which was uprooted in the storm (it was in good order) landed against one of my neighbour's cars. I discussed this with my insurance company who said that storm damage is considered to be an Act of God and that nobody is held liable. They told me that any damage caused to a neighbour's property would require the neighbour to make a claim off their own insurance in the normal way, with the possibility of their insurance company making a counterclaim against mine. Fortunately my neighbour's car wasn't damaged, but if it had been my neighbour made it clear that he would have held me liable for his (very high) insurance excess - in fact he would not have wanted to make a claim at all with respect to the possibility of his premium going up. So even though I am not liable for damage caused by an act of God, it appears that neighbours would nevertheless expect one to pay for damage to their property so that they can avoid their own insurance claim. I sure as hell wouldn't be able to afford to do that, particularly as I have to replace my fencing out of my own pocket. Does anyone have experience of being in that situation?