Fire Cover
Fire can be the biggest worry for many homeowners, landlords, and tenants – and rightly so. Fires are the costliest type of property claim. Therefore, it’s crucial to ensure that you have the right insurance to protect you in the right way from your worst nightmare.
The type of fire safety you have in your property can make a massive difference to your insurance. Smoke alarms are probably the most important fire safety device in your home. When taking out a home insurance policy, you’ll probably be asked whether or not you have working smoke alarms fitted at your property – not only will this affect the insurance quotes offered to you, but more importantly smoke alarms also make you much safer.
Insurance companies will also ask whether or not you (or anyone else in the property) is a smoker. If anybody is, this may have an effect on your insurance prices. Cigarettes and other smoking materials and accessories are the biggest cause of fatal home fires. Despite this, smokers can find a suitable policy very easily – don’t conceal the fact that you or someone else in the property smokes. This could be considered fraud and in the event of a fire, your insurer may not pay up.
Following an insurance claim, your insurer will arrange for what’s called a ‘loss adjuster’ to assess the full extent of the damage and come to a decision of what repairs need to be carried out. The loss adjuster will also try to figure out how the fire started in the first place – a lot of the time they should be able to figure this out by themselves, however, in more serious cases a forensic expert may need to take a look in order to come to a conclusion.
The cause of the fire will have effects on your ability to claim, and what you may get back. If it’s found that the fire was started accidentally, then the claim should be straightforward as your provider arranges repairs and covers the cost of your home. However, if the fire was determined to have been set up intentionally then your claim could be much more complicated and will probably take longer to process.
If you need assistance with your own property insurance, and your property’s fire risk, then get in touch with our specialist mortgage and protection advisors – they can assist you not only with property insurance but also with mortgage advice and much more. Find your local advisor and get in touch.