FOOL'S EYE VIEW
Fire Proof Insurance

By Jane Mack (TMFJane)
November 14, 2002

I was just thinking about pottering down to my local fire station to talk to the fire fighters who are currently on strike. I'm feeling a bit troubled, you see. And who better to ask than those whose actions are troubling me?

Don't get me wrong – I happen to agree that they're not being paid enough but that's not because I've personally looked into and evaluated their pay scales for the job that they do. We already know that fighting fires is a dangerous occupation and that these courageous public servants sometimes die when they're trying to save the rest of us from our stupid chip-pan fires.

I only know they're not being paid enough because many years ago I lived in the same house as a fireman and that he came home exhausted and tearful one night because he'd had to help cut a dead family of five, including a baby, out of a car after they'd gone into the back of a lorry at high speed. He said the car looked like a concertina.

Fire fighters don't just fight fires.

Anyway, I was contemplating talking to my local fire fighters earlier today because I was curious about two things, one personal and one related to financial issues. Actually, I suppose they're both related to money.

The first is that (at the time of writing) three people have already died in separate fires since the strike started at 6 o'clock last night. Who knows if these magnificent men in their tender machines would have been able to save them – maybe they would have died anyway. But I just have that question lodged somewhere at the back of my brain at the moment and I'd quite like to ask them how they feel about it. Just in case they're able to reassure me that going on strike really is the only way they can make their point.

Yes, money is important, but is it that important? I don't know the answer to that one.

The other question is far less interesting in the scheme of things and it may seem like a selfish, stupid one - but it's a Foolish question. If my house happens to catch fire and a Green Goddess doesn't quite lumber up the street in time to contain the blaze, will my house insurance cover the costs of re-building?

In many cases the property value of a building doesn't equate in the slightest to the actual costs of re-construction (because much of the value of the property relates to the cost of the land) but it's still something people don't always think about when insuring their homes. If your home is literally razed to the ground, it will only be worth something if it can be fully re-built. And what if it costs more in re-building costs than you'd insured your home for?

I'd like to ask our fire fighters how often a house burns down completely. The Fire Brigade is so prompt and so professional that presumably most of a building can be saved unless it gets truly out of hand before they get there. I've covered enough fires as a reporter over the years to know that to be likely but am I making assumptions based on my personal experience rather than reality? And while the firefighters are on strike, who knows what might happen?

At any rate, I phoned my insurance broker this morning just to clarify that my house insurance fully covers the re-building costs for my home. They said that as long I'd got the initial re-building costs correct when I first took out my policy, my insurance company will have index-linked those costs each year. Judging from the number they told me my house was insured for, I'm happy I'm covered sufficiently.

But are you? Have you made that phone call to your insurance company yet? And are you sure you got the initial re-building cost of your home correct in the first place?

You won't be surprised to learn that insurance companies are watching this fire fighters' strike with as much concern as I am. In the meantime, I'm going to go and double-check the batteries for my smoke alarms, get the mini fire extinguisher out of the car and into the house - and then I'm off to the picket line at the fire station. I want to know the answers to my questions.

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