Insurance of your property - fire or flood?

Fires I have Seen

Fire, floods, rarity? Not for me. 

1 I have been in three hotels and restaurants on holiday in Europe and the USA which had fire alarms. Kitchen fires.  

2 My local Chinese restaurant in Hatch End, UK, burned down. Water thrown on hot oil. Who knew that would start a fire? Not the kitchen staff.

I went to stay with an elderly relative who had been widowed. He went to sleep with a memorial candle on the anniversary of his wife's death. He insisted that the candle needed to burn for 24 hours. 

3 I had an charming elderly tenant. She burned incense, twice the height of a low vase. I watched, uneasily, as it burned down. When she left the room to answer the front door, the draft made it flicker. As it died, it did a dance in the vase. What a relief. Then she lit another one. With a match. 

4 But a year or two after she moved in, she kept burning the toast. I was puzzling over what to say to the son who was paying rent. But he gave notice. She needed care.

5 I also saw smoke from the house opposite when their flame-throwing weed-killer was dropped into bushes when they answered the phone. 

6 One of my tenants did an obligatory dance seven times around a fire, to celebrate the birth of her baby. It was a BBQ style fire on the dining table, in a wok. 

Flames rose unexpectedly high. The young couple beat back the flames. Smoke rose. Then the husband rushed the flaming cauldron or wok through the hall. The building smoke alarms went off. 

The blind man upstairs rushed out. He hurt his ankle rushing downstairs. He was not pleased.

Keep Insurance Records

 Keep a record of your insurance dates to be sure you remember to renew.

Update Email Addresses to Insurers

Normally you get reminders by email. Make sure to tell insurance companies if you change your email, so you get the reminders.

Display Insurance Details

Everybody involved in your family (including your children if you are elderly) should be able to quickly find the insurance details. What if you should go abroad on holiday, fall ill, go into hospital or die? 

Check Empty House Clauses

The insurance might not be valid if the house is left empty. You might be able to extend it to cover these situations if you let them know, either for a small extra charge, or even at no cost.

Places For Keeping Records, Or Duplicate Records

 If you are not confident that the records can be found, in the event of power failure, computer failure, change of email, loss of password, relatives not knowing the password to your computer or a particular set of past records, have the vital information in book they can easily find, or pinned on the fridge door, or a pinboard of vital information,

Emergency Action Instructions

Hotels have fire escapes on a map on the back of the bedroom door. Some hotels have added instructions about what to do, or to take with you. Include 

1 Where to turn off water in the case of a flood -and whether the flood is external such as a river or drain, or internal such as a leaking pipe, you may need to know the location of where to turn off the electricity and the water.

2 Where to find the fuse box.

3 Phone number of reliable, communicative, reasonably priced, available electrician to call if the electricity keeps tripping. Or porter. Or managing agent. Or Fire Brigade.

If you call out the fire brigade and they turn off the electricity in a flood, note where to find the tap to turn the electricity or water back on. Label it.

Cost Of Insurance

Some people forget insurance. Or think it is not worth the money because things rarely go wrong. Or think the insurance companies often manage not to pay. Or the amount the insured person has to pay means that you lose your no claims bonus.

Previous Accidents, Events, Claims

One insurance form I filled out online to get a list of possible insurers said that I must list all accidents even if I had not made a claim. Presumably because that mean my property was at risk of future events.

 However, the agent told me that if remedial action had been taken, such as against flooding or subsidence. the earlier claim would not prevent my property getting insurance.

Positive Action

A no smoking ban is a first step.

Fire Alarm

Install a fire alarm. There are at least two types of fire fighting devices. One for cooking fires. Another for electrical fires. A blanket. A spray.

Install a smoke alarm.

 Note the expiry date. Check the battery.

Gas Safety

You need a gas safety check. If you have a managing agent, they should be ensuring that these things are done. 

Positive Thoughts

Another member of my family said, over a period of ten or twenty years you might pay out for several years with nothing wroth claiming for. But then if something happens, you might get your money back on that claim. 

You are in effect paying out, gradually, against a later event. A bit like saving up for a rainy day. So that you don't have to find a lot of money in one go. That saves you the stress.

Useful Websites About Fire Safety

https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/

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