I was the renter of a duplex apartment, and we had a fire. We lost everything but our lives-thank god. This fire happened in july 2005. Now last Friday, the 27th, I was served with a summons. My old landlord's insurance company is suing us for $80,000. They're saying it was child negligence of my 2 year old as the reason for the fire. They're saying my 2 year old(at the time)is responsible for setting the fire. In the summons it says "On july22 2005, the defendants failed to properly supervise a minor child who negligently and carelessly caused a fire while playing with matches..." It says we were responsible for supervising him and for keeping the matches in a safe place. This is bullsh!t! I was cooking, the father was sitting in the living room, and my son was playing in his room. The fire started in my room. And I had the matches on top of a very tall dresser. I feel like just because I admitted to having matches in the house, they're automatically trying to place the blame on that
Answers:
I am a lawyer in Florida. You asked a lot of questions but I will try to sort thru them and help.
First, if they are suing you for subrogation (to recover money they paid to the landlord for the fire), they have up to five years after their payment to sue you so the suit is timely.
Second, it says that they want to prove the fire was caused by your kid. B/c there was a fire, there should be a fire report which states exactly what the cause of the fire was, where the fire was, etc. and that will be binding on the cause of the fire. If you had matches and the fire was started by a lighter (which means that there had to be lighter fluid found at the scene) then the matches can't be the cause of the fire. A complaint is what they say that they will have to prove to win. If they can't prove it, they are SOL.
The reason for the suit is b/c either they think you have money from which they could collect their damages back from you - or b/c they think you have insurance (homeowers, an umbrella - something) that might cover you for their claim. Tell your insurance agent and if you had renters insurance, the insurance company will get you a lawyer who will rep you for free. If you don't have any, I would get an attorney either directly or thru legal aid to represent you. Hope that helps.
First as you mention teh 2-year mark, I guess you are hinting at a statue of limitations. I do not know how you stand there.
Given the fire report, you may have a problem.
Get a Lawyer!
Get a lawyer fast.
So long as there is an official report on the fire that says it started because your child was playing with matches, it does not matter if this is false, if you know it is false, that is the official report, and the insurance company can sue you for their costs due to something that the official report says is your family's fault.
So your lawyer first task needs to be to combat the official report, which will be very difficult givne that it was 2 years ago ... witnesses will have disappeared, forgot.
There is also the question of YOUR insurance.
How comprehensive was it? Did you have renter's insurance that protects you from this kind of thing? If so, your insurance company can pay off the landlord's insurance company.
I can barely get a match to light OR a lighter for all that matter and I'm 21! That kid must have been something fierce when he was 2! I'm sorry, I don't have any legal advice, I just wanted to share how silly-sounding that was that a 2 year old just lit a lighter and kept it lit long enough to set something on fire and didn't get burned.
yup, u need a lawyer. If you are indigent, go to your "legal aid society" if your area has one. good luck
Get a lawyer...the report said accidental so the insurance company shouldn't be able to do anything.
GET A LAWYER....insurance companies will intimidate people and scare them to give in...get a lawyer and go to court.
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