car damaged

[im going mad]

hi, can anyone tell me who's insurance company pays for my car if it was damaged by the car next to it catching or being set on fire, thanks

[bob57]

was the car that went on fire
set on fire by arson or by accident
if by arson youll need to check with your own insurers
but if it was an accident then there should be no problem the other car insurance should stump up

[gouldc]

Sorry Bob, but that's not the case. If the fire started by accident (or arson), and the owner of the other vehicle was not directly responsible (ie they didn't light the fire themselves), your insurance will pay out, with no chance of recovery from the other person.

This is an established case law (Musgrove vs Pandelis).

The basics behind this is that as it wasn't driver error, or down to poor maintenance, then the owner of the vehicle can have no power over the incident, and therefore their insurers are not liable.

It's very much the same if your vehicle is hit by a stolen car - if the driver is unidentified, the insurer of that vehicle isn't liable under the Road Traffic Act.

That said, it depends who insures the car that caught fire (there are some real idiots working in some companies). We wouldn't even consider the case where I work