Insurance Terms Hostile Fire
In insurance law a combustion that cannot be controlled that escapes from where it was initially set and confined or one that was not intended to exist.
Insurance terms hostile fire. Fire combustion sufficient to produce a spark flame or glow and which is hostile as opposed to friendly i e not in the place where it is intended to be such as in a furnace fire insurance coverage for loss of or damage to a building and or contents due to fire. The insurance is designed to cover fortuitous loss which the hostile fire is. Unfriendly fire not confined to its normal habitat. Property contracts protect against damage from a hostile fire not from damage from fire in the fireplace its normal habitat.
Hostile fire definition an unintentional fire from which any resulting loss can be claimed as an insurance liability opposed to friendly fire. For example fire in the fireplace leaps onto the sofa. Likewise a fire that becomes much hotter than it is supposed to be or that cannot be extinguished is hostile even if it never spreads from the location where it was intentionally kindled. However property insurance written on an all risks basis does cover damage from a friendly fire since there is no exclusion for such damage.
The courts have generally held that property insurance written on a named perils basis does not cover damage done by a friendly fire. A fire that becomes uncontrollable or expands outside its intended boundaries. Contrast with hostile fire. For example a fire set intentionally to burn brush becomes hostile if it spreads to other property.
Assuming that your homeowner s insurance policy provides protection for losses caused by fire which most do the results of a hostile fire would be covered by the policy subject to its terms and conditions. A hostile fire differs from a friendly fire which burns in a place where it was intended to burn such as one confined to a fireplace or furnace. For example a fire set intentionally to burn brush becomes hostile if it spreads to other property. Likewise a fire that becomes much hotter than it is supposed to be or that cannot be extinguished is hostile even if it never spreads from the location where it was intentionally kindled.
A fire that becomes uncontrollable or expands outside its intended boundaries. Hostile fire a fire that becomes uncontrollable or expands outside its intended boundaries.