My brothers' apartment caught on fire due to a hot water heater, does he have any recourse? He did not have renters insurance but the total loss fire ( no loss of life or pet thank goodness) has left him with nothing.

Understand I am not an attorney, only an insurance agent but here's my opinion. If the apt bldg owner was aware of a defective hot water heater and any potential fire (or perhaps other) hazard that might be associated with the faulty heater and he / she failed to repair/ replace the heater, he or she might be held liable. Also, alsmost nothing made by man is manufactured perfectly and some manaufacturers have been held liable for damages caused by defective products so he might pursue the water heater manufacturer also.

Brother SHOULD have had renter's insurance... this is a no-brainer and cost less than $200 per year.

The landlord's insurance can't cover brother's belongings so he needs to get a copy of the fire inspector's report before he can make any decision as to if he can sue.

Normally unless there was some direct cause or neglect by the owner, ( and of course hot water heaters don't normally cause fire, so what caused the hot water heater to cause the fire will be the issue)

But as mentioned the landlords insurance does not cover any belongings of the tennants, that is why all renters need renters insurance.

Most likely if the fire was merely an accident, you brother is just out everything and has to just start over again, with a lesson learned about renters insurance.

And if for example your brother put things around the heater, and your brother did something that hellped cause the fire ( even by accident) the landlords insurance company could even come after your brother to pay them back for the damage to the apartment building. ** doubt it would ever happen but they legally could.

So as noted he needs to look and find out exactly what caused the fire, since the hot water heater just sitting there did not do it, it would be a short, incorreect wiring, someone put perhaps rags or flammable items to near it, or so on