[Patbrz]

Had an accidental fire where I rent. Now landlord is asking me to pay the deductible back to her. Can she do that?

[ScottGem]

Let me see if I understand. You had an accidental fire in your unit. The landlord put in a claim to her insurer. The claim was paid except for the deductible on the policy. Now the landlord is asking you to reimburse her for the amount of the deductible.

Don't you have renter's insurance? What, exactly, caused the fire?

It certainly is not illegal for her to ask for this and actually pretty reasonable if you hold any responsibility for the fire.

[Patbrz]

Yes you did understand. I don't have renter's insurance and the fired was caused my forgotten grease left on the stovetop. I was in the home with my daughter and the damages were not that much. The insurance company wants me to pay $2,500.00 and my landlord is asking me for the deductible that she had to pay for the insurance to pay for the damages. Now the cabinets are fixed, the stoverange is fixed but the kitchen ceiling is still black. Not sure what's going on. Why does it fall on me to pay so much on this. I did not have the intention of leaving the grease on the stove. And what does renter's insurance does? I thought it only covered renter's personal property? Please help I am lost this has never happened to me and I am not sure what to do. Thank you.

[asking]

I think you have to negotiate this. Look at it from the landlord's point of view. You caused a fire that is costing HER $2500 if you don't pay that. She doesn't get anything for that and it comes right out of her budget, same as for you. I know the fire was an accident, but she's running a business and your mistake was expensive.

On the other hand, you could move out, which means she'd have to find another tenant, which is a hassle. If you have been an otherwise great tenant--pay your rent on time, don't bother other tenants, etc, she'd rather you stayed probably. If $2500 is more than you can afford, offer to pay half of that and tell her you are really sorry about the fire and you'll be waay more careful from now on. Obviously, you don't want fires either! Then make a point of not making yourself an expensive tenant. Otherwise, she'll be thinking about giving you notice.

[bendingleconte]

Yes you did understand. I don't have renter's insurance and the fired was caused my forgotten grease left on the stovetop. I was in the home with my daughter and the damages were not that much. The insurance company wants me to pay $2,500.00 and my landlord is asking me for the deductible that she had to pay for the insurance to pay for the damages. Now the cabinets are fixed, the stoverange is fixed but the kitchen ceiling is still black. Not sure what's going on. Why does it fall on me to pay so much on this. I did not have the intention of leaving the grease on the stove. And what does renter's insurance does? I thought it only covered renter's personal property? Please help I am lost this has never happened to me and I am not sure what to do. thank you.

She has every right to expect you to pay for the damages she claims you are responsible for. She has her property protected with a Dwelling/Fire policy (like a homeowner's policy without her belongings in it).

You ask what a renter's policy does... it is a very important policy for renter's that does many things, 3 major ones:

1) It will replace your belongings in today's prices from anywhere from $10k-$50k or more. This will allow you to start over and buy clothes to continue going to work or school, etc.

2) Provides Loss of Use- which covers the costs you incur by losing the use of your home. Usually will provide for a short-term motel until you can find another apartment and sometimes, depending on the policy, will pay for living expenses like cash for food, toiletries and dry cleaning.

3) Also provides Personal Liability- Anywhere from $100k+ that will cover you in the event you are responsible for damage or injuries to another party.

These policies are typically very inexpensive and can save families from financial ruin. I hope this helps.

[Fr_Chuck]

I will agree, this is why you should have had renters insurance, if you or your neglect caused the fire, you will be expected ( and have a legal obligation) to pay,

It is easier for landlord to turn it over to insurance, get paid and fix the problem.
Then the insurance company will merely sue you if you don't repay, and if they prove you at fault they will win, not only the damages, but court and legal fees also. So 2000 can easily be 4000 or 5000 by the time it goes though court.

And of course the landlord expects you to pay the deductable.

What I can't understand is why you don't expect to have to pay for your damages.

If this had been a car and you ran a red light and hit a car, they would expect you to pay for their damages, this is a similar issue

[ScottGem]

I'm sure you didn't deliberately set the fire, but it happened through your negligence. That makes you liable. Like Chuck, I'm amazed you think you shouldn't have to pay.

[twinkiedooter]

Depending on your age and contents of your apartment or rental home a renter's policy can run around $25+ a month. Not too much considering all that is covered.

[unitedleak]

I think all of those people are high on drugs. All of you! As clearly stated above, renter's insurance covers your stuff, and the personally liability against injury should someone fall (and sue you personally, they will sue the owner of the property first). People have insurance to cover their own butss. Don't forget that, It will be important in a minute. Your renter's insurance that you did not have would have covered the cost to replace your belongings, and the injury had someone been injuered due to your actions, may have been covered by either or both policies. The landlord has a separate rental property policy that they have chosen to pay less money for in exchange for a higher deductible. She was trying to save a buck when she bought the policy and now wants you to bail her out when the policy needs to pay out a claim. Her policy covers her belongings, and your policy covers your belongings. She pays for her policy, she chooses which policy, and which coverage amounts will be most appropriate for her situation. You do the same. ( I personally feel there is a huge liabilty for you to not have renter's insurance. You should look into it.) The out of pocket from her policy is paid by her. You did not help her choose the policy, nor choose the deductible, neither one is your responsibility. She was not passing the savings along to you by her choice of a high deductible, she cannot pass the cost to you of a high deductible. If negligence can be proven, and maybe it can be and maybe it cannot, then the landlord could hold you legally responsible for the her costs incurred, but that is a much larger step. This is an unfortuante cost of being a landlord, and as a sunk Cost Of Doing Business such things can certainly eat into her profits, My advice - tell her to go pound sand, and you may need to start looking fro another place to live, in many states, as long as the landlord does not break federal fair housing law, they can choose not to renew a lease. This would not fall into one of those fair housing laws. Crazies! All of you!!

[bendingleconte]

Unitedleak, you are sounding like you may be the landlord. The liability will legally fall on the tenent of the property, NOT the owner, unless negligence is proven.

You even stated in your post what we all agreed to, "If negligence can be proven, and maybe it can be and maybe it cannot, then the landlord could hold you legally responsible for the her costs incurred, but that is a much larger step.

Wouldn't her cost incurred be the deductible? Please think things trough before trashing everyone's posts then repeating our same answers.

[unitedleak]

.

[ScottGem]

Comments on this post
unitedleak does not find this helpful : This post is crazy! Renter's insurance covers the renter's stuff. The landlord has insurance to cover their stuff. Everyone covers the property they own, and chooses the insurance policy that will fit them best.

First, may I call your attention to the guidelines for using the comments feature found here:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/feedba...ure-24951.html

None of the posts that you gave negative comments to were factually incorrect. Therefore, your comments were inappropriate and in violation of the rules of this site.

I think all of those people are high on drugs.

This also is in violation of the rules of this site. While you have every right to disagree with the advice given, you are required to be civil about it. There was no call for the insults and tone of your response.

What is worse here is you ADMIT our advice was correct. Basically we said that if the OP was negligent in causing the fire, then the landlord could sue and a court might hold her responsible. How does that differ from what you said; "f negligence can be proven, ... then the landlord could hold you legally responsible for the her costs incurred"?

So what we have here is three inappropriate negative comments when you actually agreed with what was said and using an insulting tone to boot. This is not a good way to start here.