Bit of a shock.. my sisters house she rents out ravaged by fire

[Levo-Lon]

Hope she has good landlords building insurance.

Any idea how or who started the fire?

Fire started at 1030am, so nothing yet.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Bad news. Where will she stay?

A surprising number of house fires are started in sunny weather by concave mirrors and glass ornaments focusing the sun.

Sounds like a fence fire..that caught the house so could be kids playing in the garden.. ,could be arson..
See what the investigators say.

 

[Milkfloat]

Fingers crossed that everyone was safe and that the tenant gets somewhere to live quickly. If the insurance is anything like the situation we are going through with our scout hut, then it could take a long time to get sorted.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Fingers crossed that everyone was safe and that the tenant gets somewhere to live quickly. If the insurance is anything like the situation we are going through with our scout hut, then it could take a long time to get sorted.

Her son and daughter in law rented it for a few yrs,but it's a private tenant now, known to family..so I hope it's just an accident.

 

[raleighnut]

If it's a fence that started it then it could well have started on the neighbours side, glad to hear that nobody was hurt.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Any update?

 

[oldcarltonfan]

First of all, my commiserations to your sister.

Just over 5 years ago, we suffered a similar disaster, our tenanted house burnt to the ground. No one was hurt, the tenants got out. It was stressful, but we got through it in the end. Here are some observations based purely on our experience, please feel free to ignore them but I hope they help:

• No one was hurt. When it gets stressful, remember, no one got hurt.
• It will eventually be sorted out, but be realistic. It took over 2 years between the fire and moving back in – although we had a few bumps on the way with planning, conservation etc. Expect bumps, when you want to strangle the living sh1t out of someone, remember note one. Coronavirus will obviously make the whole thing harder, but hopefully the theme of my notes will help regardless.
• Assuming you have landlord’s insurance, use the insurance company to rehouse and cope with the tenants. Its stressful enough without (understandably) upset and needy tenants wanting you to help (again, understandably).
• Ask the insurance company about them covering your lost rent, costs etc. Good ones should/might, depending on the company and your contract.
• If you have a mortgage, tell the bank. Ours took no notice for a few months then burst into ‘galatically stupid question’ mode – see note 6 below.
• Record everything, and I mean everything. I did it the old-fashioned way and had a large folder, with sub-dividers, headings, pens, etc and an A5 notebook which I ran chronologically with everything that happened, who we spoke to etc. I saved every e-mail, printed important ones out, and copied every record I had of insurance, when the chimney was swept, last valuation, mortgage details, fire officer attending etc. It sounds pedantic, but it works; I suspect someone younger than me would simply run it all on a tablet, but same principle. If you do not keep precise notes every day, something will catch you out months later when you least expect it.
• The loss-adjuster appointed by the insurance company is not your friend, he/she works for the insurance company. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be treated decently; they will know a lot that you don’t and will be able to offer all sorts of advice. However, they work for the insurance company……..
• I cannot speak for the police, we were lucky and the fire investigator quickly ruled out arson, foul play and similar. However, given that the police are busy, undermanned and human, see note 6.
• Do not feel you must accept the first offer they give you. Expect the insurance company to delay, obfuscate and generally run you raged – even the ‘good ones’ who ‘settle 99% of cases’; you might have a nice surprise when everything goes well, but if it doesn’t you will be ready. Companies want to pay out as late as possible and as little as possible. To that end look up the details of the relevant ombudsman and read very carefully what you should do and when if it all goes south. It may not be required, but I am convinced that my obvious knowledge of, and preparedness to use, the ombudsman helped. We were consistently offered final settlement well below our costs, and when I accepted the money as an ‘interim payment’, I carried on building with my own savings. In the end we came to a very fair settlement, but it nearly went to the wire.
• Unless you are very savvy, experienced in building, have time and live locally, use a project manager for the rebuild. Our company insisted on it, if they hadn’t, we would have done it anyway. Our project manager kept us, the insurance company and the builder straight, and dealt with conservation officers, planners et al. It also avoided me strangling the living sh1t out of idiots ‘just doing their job’.
• Remember point one.

I’m sorry this is so long; I didn’t have time to precis. I’m sorry if it sounds negative, but it was a stressful time – I should make a mental note to myself to read note one more often as we got through it unscathed in the ed

Good luck to your sister.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Sounds like a fence fire..that caught the house so could be kids playing in the garden.. ,could be arson..
See what the investigators say.

Might just be neighbours burning rubbish with dump closed.

 

[Mrs M]

Sorry to hear this.
Relieved to hear that everyone is ok.
Hope the tenants are rehoused and your sisters insurance takes care of things promptly.
Best wishes xx

 

[gbb]

Sounds like a fence fire..that caught the house so could be kids playing in the garden.. ,could be arson..
See what the investigators say.

Our daughters rented house burned down exactly like that, kids next door playing with fire, set the fence alight, unintentionally you hope, travelled quickly along then onto and into the wood clad house.
It's a shocking thing to witness, the speed, the ferocity...and everyone stood gawking. I led my tearful daughter away, there was nothing you could do within literally 5 minutes of being in the house, it was an inferno.
The loss of belongings, sometimes the seemingly unimportant stuff to others, hurts. Hers was her wedding dress.

It'll take a long time to sort if they move back in, we've felt your pain. It's a horrible horrible thing to go through.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Our daughters rented house burned down exactly like that, kids next door playing with fire, set the fence alight, unintentionally you hope, travelled quickly along then onto and into the wood clad house.
It's a shocking thing to witness, the speed, the ferocity...and everyone stood gawking. I led my tearful daughter away, there was nothing you could do within literally 5 minutes of being in the house, it was an inferno.
The loss of belongings, sometimes the seemingly unimportant stuff to others, hurts. Hers was her wedding dress.

It'll take a long time to sort if they move back in, we've felt your pain. It's a horrible horrible thing to go through.

Tennant's have been re-homed
Unfortunately it's 40 miles away.

See what happens, I would think it's going to be a long process.
Suspect it'll be boarded up for health and safety and then all the questions will begin

 

[Levo-Lon]

Little update
Fire started by cigarette end, probably the tenant.
Smoke alarms disabled, batteries removed I think?
Tennant's had no insurance.

Sister has full cover landlord insurance, their very annoyed about the smoke alarms.
House will be repaired and sold.
Tennant's are in their mothers holiday let out Dearahm way.
She doesn't really want them in that place. Can't think why

My sister's best friends daughter..but the friendship will survive.

 

[C R]

Little update
Fire started by cigarette end, probably the tenant.
Smoke alarms disabled, batteries removed I think?
Tennant's had no insurance.

Sister has full cover landlord insurance, their very annoyed about the smoke alarms.
House will be repaired and sold.
Tennant's are in their mothers holiday let out Dearahm way.
She doesn't really want them in that place. Can't think why

My sister's best friends daughter..but the friendship will survive.

Wow, even if the tenant had insurance it may not have paid given the circumstances. Does having the smoke detectors disabled affect your sisters claim against her insurance?

 

[Levo-Lon]

Wow, even if the tenant had insurance it may not have paid given the circumstances. Does having the smoke detectors disabled affect your sisters claim against her insurance?

Fag butts everywhere as it's a end property with a fence and public footpath.

If the resident disabled the alarm I don't know, maybe the insurers may look at that with a view to perusing for compensation..

That said it may not have prevented the fire as it was raging in a few minutes, Tennants left with just what they were wearing.

If they had been asleep, they'd probably be dead.