QLD House Fire through negligence

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

jaf123

Member
1 July 2017
1
0
1
Looking for advice ! The rental property we were living in caught fire 5 weeks ago and we lost absolutely everything.
Cause of fire ! Our neighbour was charging car battery in garage where he also stored his business products as a distributor for a company ( chemicals, flammables etc) .
The battery in car exploded causing his garage/house to catch fire and all contents.
Properties were on a zero lot boundary, meaning our carport was only 20-30cm away from his garage. The side of his garage that ran along side our carport also had 3 large window openings covered with lattice (no glass). Once fire took hold in his garage flames were coming out through the windows and could not go up but only sideways therefore setting our house on fire. We also had 3 family pets perish in fire.
We were under insured by approx. $50,000 and paid a settlement within 5 days.
Properties are in Brisbane Queensland.
Questions,
1) Can we sue his insurance for balance of our contents ?
2) Are zero lot boundaries allowed to have window openings to side of property ( been advised only if boundaries are 1.5 metres apart)
View attachment 2 View attachment 3
3) His business was not registered or insured at time of fire. Does this make it illegal ?
4) Only fire protection he had available was a fire blanket ( No signage of dangerous and or flammable chemicals) Is this illegal ?
5) We have had health issues and loss of wages due to this event, can we make claim for this ?
6) Do we attempt to make claim due to neighbours negligence ?