Terrible house fire

wherethewildthingis · 2022-12-06T05:20:56+00:00

Posting for any experience people have and reassurance it will be OK. We had a terrible house fire yesterday evening. We were at home and could smell smoke/plastic burning. While we were looking for the source, the fuse box by our front door suddenly burst into flames. We were all safely out of the house immediately but in the five minutes it took the fire brigade to arrive, the damage is terrible. The entire ground floor is gutted and the first floor is very bad. We live in a town house and some things on the top floor might be salvageable but everything is covered in soot and filthy. We are at my mums, we don't even have shoes other than what my neighbours lent us . We are insured but it will be months if not a year before we can go home. I am so grateful we are all OK but just feel devastated. We have lost everything. Can anyone reassure me that we will be OK?

Hillrunning · 06/12/2022 05:28

You poor thing. I know two families who lost everything in fires. It's a huge blow but they got through it by focusing on positives (after about a week of just sitting with the shock). Lots and lots of people can and will help. They were surprised st how quickly some things felt normal again. They did their best to find few possessions of the children's to help them. It does get better but don't force yourself too soon.

Singasongaday · 06/12/2022 05:29

I’m so sorry to hear this, you must be in absolute shock. Everything can be replaced, you and your family are safe and together. It will take some time to come to terms with what has happened but you will make it through and you will be ok.

Original poster

wherethewildthingis · 06/12/2022 05:31

Thank you. My son is fast asleep next to me, he's been very brave but I think will be upset today when it all hits him. I hope we do all feel a bit more normal fairly soon.

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FiveShelties · 06/12/2022 05:32

What a dreadful shock for you.

It will take time, but you are ok and insured. You will get through this.

CatSophie · 06/12/2022 05:40

We've just gone through similar last Saturday except no contents insurance (🤦‍♀️!!!!) and we lost our family pet. Has the fire prevention officer visited you where you're staying now for peace of mind? She gave us numbers to contact to organise counselling etc and checked all of our smoke alarms. Luckily, our 3 month old was oblivious and enjoyed the flashing lights at 6am but I can't say myself and my partner are the same! The only thing that's helping is focusing on the positives, us 3 are ok, everything else is replaceable and we're surrounded by amazing family and friends.

I hope things improve for you. It really is a crappy situation x

MadameSzyszkoBohusz · 06/12/2022 05:42

Thank god you are all ok. Focus on that. Everything that is truly precious to you is safe.

I can't imagine how devastating this must be, but you and your children are safe. Everything else is replaceable, and before too long this will just be a horrible memory.

MadameSzyszkoBohusz · 06/12/2022 05:43

CatSophie · 06/12/2022 05:40

We've just gone through similar last Saturday except no contents insurance (🤦‍♀️!!!!) and we lost our family pet. Has the fire prevention officer visited you where you're staying now for peace of mind? She gave us numbers to contact to organise counselling etc and checked all of our smoke alarms. Luckily, our 3 month old was oblivious and enjoyed the flashing lights at 6am but I can't say myself and my partner are the same! The only thing that's helping is focusing on the positives, us 3 are ok, everything else is replaceable and we're surrounded by amazing family and friends.

I hope things improve for you. It really is a crappy situation x

Oh god, how awful for you both as well! I'm so sorry.

Original poster

wherethewildthingis · 06/12/2022 05:54

I'm so sorry to hear that x

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FiveShelties · 06/12/2022 06:50

CatSophie · 06/12/2022 05:40

We've just gone through similar last Saturday except no contents insurance (🤦‍♀️!!!!) and we lost our family pet. Has the fire prevention officer visited you where you're staying now for peace of mind? She gave us numbers to contact to organise counselling etc and checked all of our smoke alarms. Luckily, our 3 month old was oblivious and enjoyed the flashing lights at 6am but I can't say myself and my partner are the same! The only thing that's helping is focusing on the positives, us 3 are ok, everything else is replaceable and we're surrounded by amazing family and friends.

I hope things improve for you. It really is a crappy situation x

I am so sorry @CatSophie

sleighedd · 06/12/2022 06:55

It will be hard but you will get there. Keep pushing your insurance company though x

Roselilly36 · 06/12/2022 06:59

Aww so sorry, it’s very frightening I know. This happened to us many years ago, electrical fault, our insurers were very good and our home was put back together. It will be ok, but it takes time. Good luck.

Original poster

wherethewildthingis · 06/12/2022 14:13

Thanks everyone for the kind words this morning, I am sorry to hear others worse experiences- I know we really are very lucky.

Insurance loss adjuster is coming tomorrow and they will sort somewhere for us to stay then and we should know more.

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Ivalueloyaltyaboveallelse · 06/12/2022 14:17

I’m so sorry to all of you who have had fires at their homes. I’m glad everyone made it out safe and sorry to hear that a family pet has passed. I hope things improve and you can all get back to your homes soon.

CMOTDibbler · 06/12/2022 14:23

Your insurer will quickly give you an interim payment so you can get what you need immediately, and they will also save what they can - dh used specialist cleaners who could do amazing things after smoke or water damage when he worked in household claims.

Original poster

wherethewildthingis · 06/12/2022 14:51

Thank you that's good to hear

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steppemum · 06/12/2022 14:59

so sorry to hear this.
You will be in shock, and then you will need to go through the grieving process.
please think about counselling, and be kind to yourselves, there will be a lot of shock reaction and tears over the next few days.

skyeisthelimit · 06/12/2022 15:09

I am sorry this has happened to you. I would start making a list of everything, starting from the front door and working inwards, room by room. Have a tab for each room so that you can keep adding things easily as you think of them.

My friend said it is amazing the things that you don't think of, until you literally picture each room and what was in it.

The insurance company will tell you if you are insured new for old so that you can see how much it will cost to replace the items lost.

2bazookas · 06/12/2022 15:37

If you have good cover your insurers will rise to the occasion PDQ, the policy should fund temporary accommodation from now until you can return home and they should also release enough money to buy clothes, shoes, toiletries essentials etc.

A friend who experienced this  employed  an independent loss adjuster to help  list  and value  all their losses;  it's a very expert job and  his advice  gained far more than his fee cost.  He was in addition to the one supplied by the insurers.

www.morganclark.co.uk/guide-residential-fire/

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 06/12/2022 15:52

It works like this:

Your insurers should have paid for you to be in a hotel and will pay for rental until your house is renovated.

They will
Hire a skip and you go through everything and write it down before it goes in the skip. Take photos too if you can.

They will decide what big stuff is written off and what can be cleaned and repaired

Yoi have the right to reject anything as written off.

They take everything away and clean it. When it returns you can decide to write off or keep.

They will repair amd
decoraye your house to your choices including carpets and curtains.

You will have to write a massive inventory ( 36 pages of excel)

They give you a lump sum to cover everything eventually, We used some of this to alter out house.

It awful and terrible. But it will be fine.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 06/12/2022 15:53

Also, don’t go into your house unless you need urgent bits. It may be unsafe or have dangerous chemicals/ fumes/residue.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 06/12/2022 15:56

2bazookas · 06/12/2022 15:37

If you have good cover your insurers will rise to the occasion PDQ, the policy should fund temporary accommodation from now until you can return home and they should also release enough money to buy clothes, shoes, toiletries essentials etc.

A friend who experienced this  employed  an independent loss adjuster to help  list  and value  all their losses;  it's a very expert job and  his advice  gained far more than his fee cost.  He was in addition to the one supplied by the insurers.

www.morganclark.co.uk/guide-residential-fire/

This is a really good recommendation, we had a flood in France and terrible arguments with the insurers and the independent loss adjuster just sorted it all out.

I do hope you are able to rebuild and restore even better than before. Xxxx

purplemama1990 · 06/12/2022 17:08

We had a house fire when I was 16. I realise now that I'm older how stressful it must have been for my parents with 4 kids still living at home at the time! We were out of the house for around 7 months I think. We stayed in a hotel for a few weeks before finding a house that would allow us to rent for just 6 months. Insurance paid for all.

I remember friends and neighbours giving us things like shoes / school clothes etc immediately so that we could have something to wear until we got sorted. It all worked out in the end and appreciated being back in the house - all re-painted and all surviving clothes having been cleaned at special cleaners to remove smoke smell! Again, insurance paid for all.

Don't worry, you will make it through this! I think the first few days will be the hardest while you come to terms with what's happened and start to come up with a plan to sort everything out, but the important thing is to be thankful no one was hurt and to remember everything can be fixed or replaced.

TattiePants · 06/12/2022 17:24

I’m so very sorry for what you’re going through but just so glad you are all safe. When you are feeling up to it there is an Instagram account called ‘lauracavehome’ which was previously called something like afterthefire2018. Their house was completely gutted by fire 4 years ago but they’ve managed to recreate a lovely home once again and you will too. If you read some of their earliest posts they talk about times when they had to insist certain things were replaced by their insurance rather than just cleaned up.

gallopinggallumph · 09/12/2022 17:07

@wherethewildthingis

How are things progressing for you?
We had a fire upstairs three weeks ago which wrecked our bedrooms and bathroom. It was during daytime and we smelled the smoke just before the smoke alarms went off. Fortunately the fire fighters managed to save the roof in time. If we had been out, it would have been a very different story.

Goes without saying how stressful a house fire is! We were all okay but found we were running on adrenaline the first few days, until the shock kicked in, especially when you go back in to see the damage. It still feels surreal.

We don’t have any family nearby but we have some lovely neighbours who have all rallied round.

Like you, we are now going through the insurance claims process and it’s just so slow, even with an independent loss adjuster. All the burned stuff has been assessed but has only just been carted away.

No idea yet when the building work will be sorted, we are still at the contents claim stage, which is daunting enough.

Do PM me if you like. Meanwhile, a big handhold and a hug 🤗

chercez · 09/12/2022 17:18

Oh that's so awful for you all. Sorry to read this.