Candles look great, but be careful!

Fire claims account for a high proportion of claims under home insurance policies, with electrical faults and candles cited as common causes. On Christmas day, one unlucky family left their candles burning in the lounge, where the Christmas gifts were waiting under the tree, while they went out for Christmas lunch. Unfortunately, the candles set light to the wrapping paper and started a blaze, which destroyed all of the presents and caused extensive smoke damage to their home before the fire could be contained.

Lightning strike

Another unfortunate family’s home was struck by lightning. The owner had seven Bang and Olufsen televisions connected by one telecommunications system but no lightning conductor. Unfortunately, the lightning hit the main central circuit board and all seven televisions had to be replaced.

Costly flood

Another unlucky homeowner with a Grade II listed building had just completed £200,000 renovation work. This included having a mural painted on the ceiling in the drawing room by an artist at a cost of £15,000. The work had been finished just 10 days when one of the children sleep walked into the bathroom in the middle of the night and turned on the bath taps. The water flooded the bathroom and the rooms on the two floors directly below, which included the drawing room and ruined the mural.

All of the above are examples of actual claims that were paid by an Insurer under their high net worth policy.

For more information please do not hesitate to contact ourselves