Two brothers bought a Harris County house together in early 2008, and a 2010 fire left it unlivable. Their insurer, American Risk Insurance Company, Inc., sent a fire expert, whose lab tests found petroleum distillate in three of the four places sampled. None of those three places had burned. The one sample from a spot that did burn came back negative.
The insurer refused to pay until its investigation was finished, court records show. When the brothers sued, the company answered that the fire was arson by its own policyholders, which it said voided the policy.
A judge ruled for the brothers after a bench trial, and a Houston appeals court kept the ruling, trimming only the attorney’s fee.
What each side claimed
The insurer’s cause-and-origin expert called the fire an “incendiary act.” He pointed to multiple areas of origin and the possible use of petroleum distillates, and testified he smelled odors that, in his experience, were like charcoal starter fluid or lacquer thinner. The gas burner knobs on the stove were missing, and he suspected the burners had helped start the fire. The company’s senior claims examiner testified the results suggested arson…