Fire in House - Claim

Hi,

I had a small fire in my house and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. My range cooker, which is run on oil, blew up and went on fire. The only physical damage done is to the actual cooker itself and maybe the flooring around it. The house was full of smoke and there's soot everywhere. The cooker is 19 years old so I presume that will be taken in to account. It is however my central heating and needs to be removed from the house due to the toxic fumes and replaced by perhaps a burner outside. The assessor is coming tomorrow and I was hoping I might get some pointers in what I should say or shouldn't say. I obviously would like get reimbursed for the fire brigade, electrician and plumber. Would I be able to get my now filthy and smelly carpet in the hall cleaned? It is approx. 11 months old. Also, when the cooker is removed, I'll be left with that big gap in the kitchen and pipework from where it was, leading in to the adjacent hopress. Does anyone know what else I should point out as I really don't know where to start. Thanks in advance.

Tricky one. All they have to do is pay for damage caused by the fire. I assume the boiler (being 19 years old) went on fire due to age. As this is wear and tear they are not responsible for any damage to the stove itself. They will not have to pay for the stove/new boiler outside/plumber/electrician. The carpet will be covered as will any damage caused by the fire (smoke damage etc). my advice would be to get your own assessor as they will get as much as possible in a case like this.
If you can prove that the stove went on fire and it was not due to age then you will be covered for replacing it.

This is open to correction as I don't deal with claims specfically.

Thanks Ailbhe. Assessor came today and was very nice. It seems it was just fluke that caused the fire in the burner. He said it was only the third time he had seen it in 30 years. It seems insurance company are going to cover the cost of everything. He said the cooker could be repaired and if not, to get a quote for a new one. I rang the service people for the cooker. The part will be hard to get as they stopped making the cooker 11 years ago and it would cost twice the price of a new ourside burner. They have to come and look at the cooker to see if they can repair it and their call out charge is €120 payable on the day.

According to the assessor I can get the curtains, carpets, laundry etc. throughtout the house cleaned and Insurance will pay for it. He also advised I get professional cleaners in to clean the house from head to toe. I'd like to see it all in writing really before I spend any money. Somebody advised today that I get my own assessor but I did find the Insurance Company's assessor very fair. Maybe I'm being naive to think that he is there to help me...

Thanks for your help.

The insurers assessor will try to minimise cost. Your own assessor will try to maximise it. If you're happy with what the insurers assessor is saying (and it sounds very reasonable) then there is no need for your own. Your own assessor might be recommending to get new curtains, carpets etc whereas the insurers assessor will recommend cleaning them.
I should also point out that if you hire your own assessor they charge a percentage of the claim paid (hence why they will try to maximise costs).
It's up to yourself really. The assessor who called out to you will be sending a written report to the insurer with his guidelines so I wouldn't hesitate about going ahead with the work. Perhaps call the assessor and ask for a written copy of the report yourself. You can do exactly what is on that report.