Home Out of the house due to chip pan fire - inoccupancy a problem?

[tomobrien]

Hi there,

We had a chip pan fire in the kitchen which set off some units and resulted in smoke and soot damage throughout the house. Thankfully no one hurt and not serious fire damage.

We've moved into temporary accommodation and by the looks of it, it'll be more than month before we're back in - what with progressing the claim and getting the place refurbished.

What's the position on inoccupancy (30 days in the case of our policy) in such cases. In order to be covered fully we need to be occupying the house but can't occupy the house until the claim is settled and the house is restored.

Do insurance co's give a let in these cases?

 

[kkelliher]

If you are out of the property as a result of an insured event and they are actively dealing with the claim, and once the property is fully secured and you have mitigated your loss by doing everything reasonable, if you were to have another event occur whilst you are out of the property the insurance company would have to deal with it and unoccupancy would not apply.

 

[tomobrien]

If you are out of the property as a result of an insured event and they are actively dealing with the claim, and once the property is fully secured and you have mitigated your loss by doing everything reasonable, if you were to have another event occur whilst you are out of the property the insurance company would have to deal with it and unoccupancy would not apply.

Thanks for that. It's funny: the things that cross your mind at 4am..