Fire Damage                                                                                     ç Back

During 2003 more than 75,000 homes were either partially damaged or destroyed by fire creating a total bill for the insurers of £346 million. This calculates to an average 205 claims per day at an average cost of £4,600 per claim. In addition to the above insured losses, insurers estimate annually £86 million of uninsured damage occurs.

It is an unfortunate fact that a substantial number of properties are damaged by fire, in some instances, where the fire occurs in an adjoining property.

Fire damage to a property is in most occurrences causes significant structural damage, what most people do not realise is that even if the fire is extinguished quickly and only a small area of damage occurs, consequential smoke damage that spreads throughout the property togeather with the water damage caused when the fire brigade to extinguish the fire further increases damage and the problems of reinstating the property to its pre-fire condition.

The difficulty of reinstating a fire damaged property will vary enormously depending on the form of construction, age of the building and the extent of the fire. In some instances it is more economical to demolish what is remaining and to reconstruct a new building.

Determining the extent of fire damage requires specialist technical advice by Chartered Surveyors. APA Property Services have extensive experience and contacts throughout the insurance industry and are conversant with the proceedures involved in dealing with an insurance claim.

APA’s extensive contacts with ok loss adjusters enables them to provide a quick response to the initial enquiry with a specification and schedule of works usually being prepared and agreed within 7 working days from the date of the fire, this allows the works to be commenced as soon as possible and thus minimising the further distress and inconvenience to the insured.

It is a requirement of all buildings insurance policies where significant structural damage to a property has occurred to allow the insured to appoint an independent professional advisor. The cost of employing the professional is recoverable from the insurance policy, therefore the clients can be reassured that the property will be reconstructed to the highest possible standards within the quickest time without being liable for any fees.

Depending on the extent of the damage, it may be necessary to make an application to the Local Authority Planning Department but this is rare and normally only occurs when substantial damage has occurred.

In many instances the works may require building regulation approval and again APA Property Services will prepare and submit the application forms to ensure that compliance with the relevant regulations is achieved where necessary.

Click here to see "What is a Chartered Surveyor?"

Here are photo's of a recent fire damage project. (Click the image to enlarge)