Fire Safety and Insurance

Insurance is one of the things which is thought about until when asked for. If you own a house, the whole responsibility is on you. But if you are living in an rented apartment, and there is fire due to a burning pan left by your neighbor unattended, it will be your responsibility again because you didn’t buy a renter’s insurance. Therefore, everyone is prone to danger, no matter if the fire is due to human error of a natural disaster. 

Renter’s insurance dose not cost more than a pizza deliver in a month. Majority of the renter’s insurance plans cover fire damages too. Discussions can be made with the insurance agents and insurance plans can be selected which covers the needs. Some insurance plans even cover really valuable objects such as your wedding rings. When buying a fire insurance policy it is necessary to think more than the house value. Suppose if the cost of the house is $200,000 and the insurance only covers the structure cost, then it would easily take more than this amount  to rebuild the house in case of any disaster. This estimate included everything from rebuilding the house to possessions like jewelry to flatware. It is important that owners and renters make an inventories of the objects they posses in their homes. It would be very smart to take pictures of the contents of your home and store it in a sage or a lock box in order to achieve peace of mind. When you go through the process of claims, many questions such as “How many dishes were there in the flatware?” will arise, which will be very difficult to answer then. 

Insurance companies will reduce the periodical premium to be paid if there are no bushes or flammable materials surrounding the house. In case of fire, the bushes or the flammable materials engulf the house and burns it down earlier than otherwise. Clearing these materials also helps to create defensible space for the firefighters. Although bushes provides a beautiful view, they also risks the life the inhabitants of the house. 

If the insurance is claimed in case of accident, on one hand it will help to restore the damages but on the other hand this process will increase the periodical premium. So in every case, prevention is better than cure. Firstly install smoke detectors in the house, especially in kitchen and rooms in which the family sleeps. They should be checked every month and must be replaced if they are older than ten years. The oil burner should be checked periodically by a professional. Do not leave electric appliances such as dishwashers, washing machine, heaters on when not at home or when you go to bed. Every floor of the home must be equipped with at least one fire extinguisher. 

House should have two exits so that if one of them is blocked, the other one can be used. It is better to have a fire safety plan before hand and let the whole family know about it. If there is a pet in the house, the plan should also include the pet. Be careful while burning candles because they produce lots of soot which can damage the ceilings, floors and walls. It can also damage the personal belongings. They should be burned in a safe place away from curtains, loose furniture fabric, people, children and pets. According to a research done by the Consumer Product Safety Commissions in 2001, fires caused by candles were due to existence of a combustible substance within close proximity of the candle. Another major reason for candle fire is tipping of candle by pets or children or knocking over by the wind. Extra care must be taken when burning gel candles as they burn longer than the wax candles, thus increasing the risk.

People usually are seen wondering whether they turned off the stove burner or not. People should make it a habit to double check electrical appliances and other instruments which can lead to fire, before leaving the house or before going to sleep.