Recovering from a House Fire

​A house fire can be devastating. While usually, thanks to devices such as smoke and heat alarms, everyone gets out safely, possessions and valuables can be destroyed. This is why it’s so important to have home insurance.

While you can’t get the items themselves back, you’ll be covered for any financial loss, and this could be a big relief. In this article, we look at what can be done in the aftermath of a house fire. As well as what the impact might be to the cost of your insurance.

What to do after a house fire

After a fire in your home, it’s likely that you’ll be feeling all kinds of mixed emotions, including shock. However, there are a few steps that must be taken to get the insurance claim started and to ensure your home is safe.

Speak to the fire service

Even if you aren’t living there after the incident, any further damage is your legal responsibility. For this reason, it may be worth speaking to the fire brigade before they leave the site to check whether you need to bring in a chartered surveyor (to see if the property’s structure has been compromised) or an electrician (if the electrical safety has been compromised).

Contact your home insurance provider

Once you have as much information as you need from the fire service, it’s time to call your insurance provider. This may not be the first thing that crosses your mind, however, your cover provider may need to come out to assess the property.

Remember: if your contents and buildings insurance policies are with separate providers, you will need to call both of them.

Consider using a loss assessor

You may also wish to consider whether you want to use a loss assessor. They will handle the claim for you and can work out what exactly you’ve lost. You don’t have to use one, but they could help to make the task a little bit easier.

Do you need temporary accommodation?

Now that you’ve dealt with the official calls, you should inform friends and family of the incident and try to find temporary accommodation.

In some instances, this accommodation may be covered by your insurance. If so, you could stay in a hotel until the repair work on the house has been completed. However, always confirm details like this with your home insurer. Otherwise, you’ll have to cover the cost if you’re not insured for this.

Alternatively, you may prefer to stay with people closest to you after the accident. The choice is yours.

Make a list of damaged items

In the coming days and weeks after the fire, you or your loss assessor (if you have one) will need to collect a list of any damaged items and their value.

You should make this list as detailed as you possibly can, even including items such as books, clothes, and bedding. Once your claim has been approved, work can begin on the house to restore it.

What does home insurance cover in a fire?

What your insurance policy covers after a fire will depend on the provider or the level of cover you have.

If you have a buildings insurance policy, it is likely to cover:

• The property itself
• Permanent fixtures and fittings
• Garden walls
• Fences
• Outbuildings (including tennis courts and swimming pools)

If you have a contents insurance policy, it could protect your:

• Household goods (e.g. furniture and kitchenware)
• Personal belongings (e.g. clothing and books)
• Valuables (e.g. jewellery and gadgets)
• Money

Will my insurance increase after a fire?

When you claim on insurance, whether this is home, car, or business insurance, your premiums will generally increase. To understand how an incident will affect the price of your policy, try reaching out to your provider for advice. 

How to recover from a house fire

A house fire can be scary, even if it was a small one. You may feel a range of emotions following the accident, including sadness and shock. The best way to recover is to try and regain some kind of normalcy.

It’s likely that, if you’re put in temporary accommodation, the insurer will try to place you in a similar location and in a similar-sized property.

You may find it therapeutic to try recreating some of what you lost. For example, you could try to recreate lost photo albums by printing digital photos.

It’s also important to talk to the people closest to you if you’re feeling upset or depressed about what has happened.

Summary

Experiencing a fire can be a traumatic experience. However, with the right home insurance in place, you can at least protect yourself from the financial impact of damaged caused by fire.

Should a fire happen in your home, keep these key points in mind during the aftermath:

• Ask the fire brigade if you need to be aware of any structural or electrical damage.
• Contact your home insurance provider to start the claims process – they may also be able to offer alternative accommodation, if this is part of your policy.
• When you feel ready, make a list of all the items that will need to either be prepared or replaced – this may help with the claims process.
• In general, making a claim on your home insurance policy will cause it to increase in the future. You should talk to your provider for more tailored information.

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