The High Court has dismissed an insurance claim by Joseph Michovsky after finding, on the balance of probabilities, that he caused a fire that destroyed his home, either alone or with another person.
The judgment by Mr Justice Kearns, delivered on 26 February 2010, followed a four-day hearing on liability. The parties had agreed to leave the amount of any loss for a later stage. The court decided the liability issue against Mr Michovsky and dismissed the claim; it did not assess damages.
The fire destroyed Glebe House at Drumlease, Dromahair, Co Leitrim, in the early hours of 13 August 2002. Mr Michovsky sought cover under a policy with Allianz Ireland plc. The insurer refused indemnity, alleging the fire had been started deliberately by him or someone acting on his behalf, after the oil-heating system was tampered with. By the third day of the hearing, the plaintiff’s advisers accepted that the fire was deliberate. The remaining dispute was whether an intruder had set it or whether Mr Michovsky, or someone acting for him, was responsible.
The court heard that investigators found the head of an oil-line isolation valve detached in the basement. Forensic testing found petrol and diesel residues in basement debris and traces of fuel in samples from elsewhere in the house. The insurer’s fire expert, Jonathan Thomas, considered the fire had started in the basement and rejected an intruder as a likely explanation. The plaintiff’s expert, Chris Wareham, also concluded the fire was deliberate, but pointed to evidence he considered consistent with a possible break-in. He inspected the scene in 2005 and acknowledged that the delay disadvantaged his examination.
Mr Justice Kearns considered the evidence about the family’s movements, packed suitcases, the condition of the daughter’s bedroom and the proposed sale of the property, among other circumstances. He found the plaintiff and his wife and daughter unconvincing witnesses and said the intruder theory was only a remote possibility. He noted that no single circumstance established the insurer’s case, but concluded the evidence as a whole supported the inference that an occupant had set the fire.
The insurer bore the burden of proving fraud on the balance of probabilities. The judge said he was not certain beyond reasonable doubt, a criminal standard that did not apply, but was satisfied that no other explanation was likely. He concluded that Allianz had discharged its burden and dismissed the claim.