does a neighbor have to be negligent to be liable for a fire that started in their rv then went over to neighbors property causing nt damage?

Yes, the neighbor would have to be negligent for their insurance to pay. The origin of the fire, in and of itself, is not relevant.

Homeowners insurance has two types of insurance that could apply; property insurance, which insures their property only (not yours of course), and liability insurance, which insures damage that they are legally liable for. If your neighbors did not cause this fire through negligence, they are not legally liable.

However, depending on the cause of the fire, I would investigate whether the RV manufacturer could be negligent- it has liability insurance too.

My advice is to turn in a claim with your HO insurance, and they will investigate as well.

Yes, the neighbor actually has to be negligent. It's not enough that it STARTED over there. "Liability" means, someone is negligent. Otherwise, you file for your damages under your property insurance, they file for their damages under their property insurance.

Just like, if your friend comes over to visit you, parks outside your place, and his car is vandalized - are YOU responsible to fix his car? No. You're not "liable" because you didn't cause it in any way - you weren't negligent.

It depends on whether your neighbor has liability coverage. If not, he is personally liable for negligently caused fire, and without liability coverage his insurance won't pay anything. If you each go with your own insurance, the two insurance companies will figure out whose fault it was and subrogate (the money will come out of the "at fault" policy) Keep in mind that if you are not at fault, you may be entitled to have your deductible reimbursed by the at fault party - insured or not.

That is not determined by the parties involved. If the neighbor suffers a loss, he/she files a claim with THEIR homeowners' insurer. The insurers pay and then sort out the liability.

Your insurance covers your stuff. Their insurance covers their stuff. If my tree falls on your fence. I don't have insurance for the tree. You have insurance for the fence. The grey area comes in when I'm cutting the tree down as opposed to mother nature doing it.

The person who's TV caught on fire is liable to pay damages to everyone else.