Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia

Re: Are we responsible for it?

I agree with you that it is between him and his insurance company.

Re: Are we responsible for it?

First, your insurance company is really not able to pay for anything if you have not actually suffered a loss. Sure they could write a check, but they would be violating their duty to the fund and their investors and other policy holders to pay money if you have not actually suffered any loss.

(Of course, ins. cos are in the business of WRONGLY refusing to pay for things, and you always have to fight with the ins co. to get them to cover what they SHOULD pay. So never give up too easily with an ins. co.)

Here, you are not out any money, nor has any of your property been damaged.

Now, if your neighbor sued you, and WON -- NOW you would have lost some money, and the ins. co. would be obligated (probably depending on what the policy actually says) to cover your "loss" (what you owe to your neighbor).

Unless you want to pay it to your neighbor out of your own pocket, he is going to have to sue you. You could both agree to stay in small claims court if you want, and just find out who is right or wrong.

It is wrong to enter into a lawsuit and "collude" (agree to a result or manipulate the court).

However, there is NO requirement that parties must passionately hate each other. It is entirely proper to go to court and say "HEY, JUDGE, we don't know who is right or wrong, can you decide this dispute?" You don't have to be hostile about it, to simply want to KNOW what the right result is.

I think that you are probably not responsible. He would have to show that you were negligent. That is, was your siding loose and likely to come off in a way that makes you negligent? Put another way, the wind could have blown ANYTHING into his car, not just your siding. So are you negligent in having loose siding, poor maintenance, etc.? Was the siding defective?

This situation stinks for both of you, but I think that you will probably not settle it without him suing you. If he does sue, then your ins company would have to pay any judgment against you (probably, read the policy carefully).

I do not agree that it is necessarily an act of God. Siding does not normally fly off a house in 60 MPH winds. An act of God would be if the car was hit by lightning. IF (IF) the siding was loose or defective, then I would not necessarily agree that it is an act of God. The problem is with the siding. The siding SHOULD be able to withstand 60 MPH winds. The issue to me is NOT that there was wind, but the fact that the siding failed and flew off the house.