Insurance Law Commons^™

Insurance - Friendly Fires - Cigarette Scorch Claims

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff had insured certain household goods against fire under a standard policy with the defendant company. One day a burning cigarette was found beneath a smoking-stand and on a rug which was included among the insured articles; it had burned a small hole in the rug, for which damage the defendant company refused to pay and plaintiff brought suit. The company claimed that the fire in the cigarette was a "friendly" fire, and that in order to show a right to a recovery the plaintiff must prove that the damage was done by a secondary, or "hostile," fire set …