Once the fire at your home has been extinguished and the authorities have confirmed that the structure is safe to enter, you can start the process of making a fire damage insurance claim. Take plenty of photos of the damage and try to make as accurate an assessment as possible of the level of damage to your home and/or its contents.
Contact the insurer by phone or online and provide your policy details. They may send a loss adjuster to assess the damage to the property and its contents and work out what may be covered and by how much.
The insurer should then be able to walk you through the next steps. These could include setting you up in temporary accommodation if the fire damage is too extensive for the home to be liveable.
If you have total replacement cover, the insurer should be able to pay for the full cost of repairing or rebuilding your home. You can get quotes from builders and other tradies and the insurer can cover the invoices as required – they may also be able to help put you in touch with skilled repairers. And if you have new for old contents insurance, damaged or destroyed goods in your home can be replaced like for like with similar new models, such as replacing your old freestanding cooker with a newer model in a similar style.
If you have a sum-insured home insurance policy the insurer will pay you a lump sum to cover the assessed cost of repairs or rebuilding your home. The amount the insurer will pay is based on the insurer’s assessment of the damage. This means that even if you over-insure your house for more than it’s worth, you may not be paid out the full amount on your policy even if the home is completely destroyed.
If you opted for a lower sum-insured amount, possibly to help keep your home insurance premiums more affordable, the cost of repairing or rebuilding your home could go over your policy’s maximum cap. You may need to bear the remainder of the repair or rebuilding costs yourself, which could put you out of pocket when you’re already doing it tough. With this in mind, some insurers offer a ‘safety net’ in their policy, which can add up to 30% extra to your sum-insured amount in the event of a total loss. Check the PDS to see if a safety net is available to you.
