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Aug. 13, 2008
Two weeks ago, we posted a story on our website about a Nova Scotia couple suing the local volunteer
fire departments, claiming damage to their home was the fault of firefighters
from North
Sydney
and Frenchvale.
Court
documents say that the volunteer firefighters put out the flames and left the scene, but that
the fire started up again later and subsequently destroyed the home of Larry
and Diane Stonehouse.
The story
was first reported by the Halifax Chronicle Herald, based on court documents
that list the Stonehouses as the plaintiffs. Interestingly, the couple was
unaware that the suit had been filed and learned about it only through the
media.
Subsequent
reports revealed that the couple’s insurance company, Aviva, had filed the suit
in an effort to recoup the $400,000 it had paid to the couple to rebuild their
home.
Further
investigation shows the Herald correctly reported the facts as they appear in
the court documents. The fine print on household insurance policies says that
if a lawsuit is filed, it will be in the name of the policy holder, not the
name of the insurance company. Certainly somebody, presumably the insurance
company or its lawyer, should have told the Stonehouses before the suit was filed.
The
Stonehouses were embarrassed. They live in a small community and they likely
know some of the firefighters who did their best to save the home. The Cape Breton Regional Municipality has said publicly that it will
pay any costs associated with the suit, which alleges the fire departments
failed to properly train their members, adequately equip firefighters, properly
extinguish the blaze and search for possible hot spots and remain at the scene
to ensure the fire was out.
Interestingly, we received some e-mails and comments about the story from readers who were stunned that the insurance company filed the suit.
Lesson learned: always read the fine print.
We’ll
keep you posted.
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D/C Terry Canning
Written by D/C Terry Canning on 2008-08-14 12:03:21
Just a quick comment - I've been warning volunteer fire departments for years that this is not "fine print", nor is it something new. As long as I have been buying house insurance policies they have included the clause regarding the Insured subrogating his/her rights to the Insurer in the event of an insured loss. This means that if you (the Insured) make a claim against your insurance policy, the insurance company (the Insurer) has the right to launch a civil suit against any and all parties from whom it thinks it may be able to collect its costs of paying the loss to the Insured.
We have 'good Samaritan' legislation in Nova Scotia as in most other provinces that states that that volunteers "cannot be sucessfuly sued for actions or inactions when rendering voluntary assistance to someone in need, short of gross negligence". It doesn't however, prevent the agrieved party (in this case the Insurer) from launching a civil suit in the name of the Insured with the Insured having no control and (in this case) no knowledge of the suit being filed - regardless of how they feel about the ability or preparedness of the local volunteer fire fighters. The reality is that anyone can launch a civil action against anyone for anything, and although many of these (and hopefully this one) will not be sucessful, the fact is that the volunteer fire service and its officers will still have to prepare to defend themselves in a court of law with the hours spent in discovery, etc. and the incumbent legal fees. |
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