Fire damage insurance: a guide for landlords and businesses

Fire is one of the major risks that your business or rental property faces, but if you have the right insurance in place, you should be covered in the case of fire damage.

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What is fire damage insurance?

There’s not a specific ‘fire damage insurance policy’ you can take out, but there are several types of insurance that would pay for repair or replacement of your things in the case of a fire.

For example, buildings insurance can cover the cost of rebuilding a property if it’s been destroyed in a fire, and contents insurance can cover the cost of replacing furniture and appliances in the event of a fire.

You could add stock cover to your policy if you run a shop, and tool, plant and machinery cover if you’re a tradesperson. These insurance covers generally include fire as one of the risks they cover.

You may also want to consider business interruption insurance if you run a business, and loss of rent cover if you have a rental property. These covers can pay for the income you lose in the event of a disaster like a fire, as long as the disaster is covered by other insurance (buildings insurance, for example).

What does fire damage insurance cover?

Insurance that covers fire damage will usually pay for repairing, replacing or rebuilding property that’s been damaged by fire.

The exact coverage will depend on the type of insurance. For example, buildings insurance can pay to repair the structure of the property, while stock insurance can pay to replace your stock.

Your insurer may also pay for the cost of refilling or replacing fire extinguishers, and repairing damage that’s been caused by the fire brigade during attempts to fight the fire.

It’s important to check your documents carefully when you buy your insurance so that you’re clear about what is and isn’t covered. There will also be certain conditions that you need to meet to make sure you’re covered. For example, your insurer may stipulate that you keep fire doors closed and have fire extinguishing appliances serviced regularly. If you don’t meet these conditions, they may reject a claim for fire damage.

Fire damage insurance for landlords

Landlord buildings insurance can cover the cost of rebuilding or restoring your buy-to-let property if it suffers fire damage.

If your freeholder is responsible for insuring the building, you could consider landlord fixtures and fitting insurance instead, which would cover things like a fitted kitchen or bathroom in the event of a fire.

And if you provide your tenants with items like furniture and appliances, you may want to take out landlord contents insurance, which can pay to replace your contents in the event of a fire, flood or another disaster.

However, your tenants’ belongings won’t be covered by your landlord contents insurance, so tell your tenants that they need to take out their own insurance to protect their possessions.

It’s also worth considering loss of rent cover, which can cover your lost rent if your tenants have to move out because of an insured event like a fire.

You can get all these covers together in a single landlord insurance policy through Simply Business. Likewise, it’s also possible to get many of the above covers for your commercial property and they can be included in a specialised commercial property insurance policy.

Fire damage insurance for businesses

If your shop or business premises was affected by fire damage, it’s business buildings insurance that could cover the cost of rebuilding or repair.

If you rent your business premises, you’re usually not responsible for insuring the building, but you may want to add tenants’ improvements insurance to your policy to cover changes you’ve made to the property.

To cover things like your business equipment and your furniture in the case of a fire, add business contents insurance to your business policy, and look at stock insurance if you want to protect your stock.

Get all these covers and more in a comprehensive business insurance policy from Simply Business.

Fire damage insurance for tradesmen

As well as buildings insurance and contents insurance if you have a business premises you want to protect, tradesmen may decide to take out contract works insurance to protect work that’s underway on a building site from a disaster like a fire.

There’s also tools insurance if you want to protect your tools from risks including fire damage, and plant and machinery insurance to cover machinery that you own or rent.

Get these covers in a single, tailored tradesman insurance policy from Simply Business.

How to make a fire damage insurance claim

If you have an insurance policy from Simply Business and you need to make a fire damage claim, contact us as soon as possible online, by email or over the phone on 0333 207 0560.

We’ll assign a dedicated claims handler to deal with your case. We know that dealing with the repercussions of a fire can be extremely stressful, so your claims handler should make sure the process is as smooth as possible.

You’ll need to give some details about the damage and some supporting evidence (photographs, for example), and then your claim will be reviewed. Your claims handler will walk you through the process. If your claim is successful, it’ll be paid within 24 hours of being settled.

If you have any more questions about fire damage insurance, ask away in the comments.