Tenant accidentally set kitchen on fire, advice needed!

[MariaDingbat]

My tenant put the oven on to preheat and took the dog for a walk. Unfortunately she accidentally turned the hob on too and came back to the kitchen on fire and the toaster exploding. She called the fire brigade and they were thee in minutes and put it out but had to use the hose. So there's water damage, the extractor fan is melted and there's smoke damage in the kitchen and living room. Frustratingly I had only replaced the 20 year old kitchen last Feb so the kitchen was less than a year old!

Any ideas how this works with insurance? Should I be expecting a huge bill to fix the kitchen and will it increase my insurance premiums?

Presumably this happened yesterday and you've contacted your insurance company? What did they say about re-housing your tenant?

Did you manage to find somewhere for your tenant to stay while you fix her house?
Must have been quite scary for her

You should have insurance to cover this, you’ll have to pay any excess, and yes, your premiums will likely go up. But surely your insurance company will have told you this?

It works the same as insurance in your own house. You pay the excess if there is one and they fix it. Premiums will likely go up.
How does the oven not have a safety mechanism to shut down if it gets too hot?

The repairs should be covered by the insurance (minus the excess of course). Future premiums will go up due to the claim, that's just how insurance works.

Have you spoken to your insurer to check what type of cover you have for emergency accommodation etc?

Hopefully you have landlord’s insurance. They’ll send out a loss adjuster to assess the damage and the offer you a settlement figure. Your landlord insurance may also cover the costs of alternative emergency accommodation for the tenant.

I'm not sure why you are asking for advice here when you should be talking to your insurance company.

How did it actually catch fire? Was the oven faulty? Hope you are both ok.

Get the insurance co round as soon as possible.

There may also be hidden smoke damage, if it has got inside electrical items, for example. Any pipe work or wiring that was subject to heat needs checking.

If you are properly insured and you insured it as a tenanted property, you will be fine.

Include all losses in the claim including any loss in rent.

Does the tenant have their own contents insurance for any of their stuff?

IMO the premium has not actually gone up after a claim.

How is your tenant? Fires are so scary. Have you arranged safe alternative accommodation for her? Are any of her belongings damaged?

Your insurance works like any other. They asses the damage, you pay the excess and your premiums may or may not increase. Don't allow the insurance company to drag their feet.

It works exactly he same as if you had set your own kitchen on fire - you get the insurance company to deal with it.
I find it hard to believe that anyone should need to ask such a basic question, tbh.

The revenge turned the hob on and presumably the toaster had been placed on the hob. Hence it set on fire.

I’m not sure how insurers deal with this but I would expect them to settle the claim. It contributory negligence but not the OP’s fault.

Revenge!! Tennant.... obviously.

I also rent property out now and have previously been a tennant. It was a requirement for me as a tennant and my tenants now to have insurance as part of the rental agreement. Any reputable letting agent would make sure the tenant had insurance in place but also as a home owner your mortgage company would require you to have insurance. Either you or your tenant will have yo claim on the insurance or you'll have to decide whether to forgo claiming on the insurance and pay out your own pocket

Yes you are unfortunately liable for your tenant accidentally starting a fire in the kitchen. You will also need to declare it when you renew your own house insurance as it counts as a claim on a policy in your name, and yes it will impact on the premium on both policies.

You are not liable for your tenant's belongings, she should have her own insurance for personal possessions. That's what our insurance company told us in similar circs.

Not sure why people are saying it's your job to find her somewhere else to live. She created the mess, she can look for herself.

Thank you for the advice, it happened late yesterday evening after my insurance company had shut for the day so no answer when I called their office and I have been lucky enough to never have to claim on house insurance before, which is why I posted here. I have landlord insurance to cover the property.

Tenant thankfully it's fine but shaken and had already gone to stay the night with her partner (who lives a few streets away) when she contacted me about the fire.

Thanks @MedusaElectronica, that's really helpful, I want sure what hidden damage can be caused by the fire and water from putting it out.

What a nightmare, so sorry OP. I'm an ex-LL and this is the thing we all dread. Thank goodness nobody was hurt.

Obviously, the insurance company will be your first port of call and you should talk to them about how it works on a practical level:

You'll need to schedule quotes and inspections from gas engineers, electrical engineers, kitchen fitters etc. Any safety certificates you have presently will clearly be voided so after the repair work is done, you'll need to reschedule all the inspections.

As far as providing her with somewhere else to live - I'm not sure that you are necessarily obliged to do that, but of course, you can't charge rent if the property is uninhabitable. It depends on what it says in the contract. I would honestly not want her back, given the level of utter stupidity she has demonstrated and the amount of hassle she has caused. If this isn't clear in the contract, obtain legal advice, which you may be covered for under your landlord insurance policy.

If you are not covered for legal advice, you could consider contacting a specialist firm - Landlord Action are pretty good, or you could contact the various Landlord's associations for a recommendation.

To be blunt, issuing an eviction notice ASAP to start the clock ticking may be your best option, with it to take effect before the property can be rendered safe and habitable again. That way you won't have the battle of physically getting her out.

As the property will now be unsafe to live in, you can't allow her to keep living there while the work is ongoing even if she wants to be there - you'd be in breach of many safety regulations.

It could be something that might happen go anyone but she does sound very very careless. I take it you don't use a letting agent. I agree she can't live there for the time being. I wouldn't allow a dog either. Your premiums will go up but you could shop around for a different insurer. I agree with others I wouldn't want her back.

Sounds like this was all well handled on the night and fortunately not too serious, but shouldn't you have a 24hr number for your insurers just in case? I thought most did for emergencies?

@PresentingPercy

The revenge turned the hob on and presumably the toaster had been placed on the hob. Hence it set on fire.

I’m not sure how insurers deal with this but I would expect them to settle the claim. It contributory negligence but not the OP’s fault.

She doesn't say the toaster was on top of the hob. That would be stupidity indeed. However if the oven overheated by being left on for an hour or however long the dog walk took that is more likely to be a fault in the oven. They shouldn't catch fire after being left on for a relatively short period of time.

So the tennent put the oven, the hob and the toaster on and then went for a walk? Clearly I've misunderstood

The insurance we have doesn't cover the tenants contents. Both you and the tenant would have to make claims.

CodenameVillanelle

It's in the very first line of the OP:

My tenant put the oven on to preheat and took the dog for a walk. Unfortunately she accidentally turned the hob on too and came back to the kitchen on fire

Somehow it is the hob that has caused the fire, not the oven. She may have left a tea towel on or near it, a plastic colander, if it is a gas hob something, including the toaster, left very close

OP: smoke from a fire that is very hot travels fast and under force as it is pushed by the heat / expanding air. So it can push into your computer, the back of the TV etc, and leave carbon particles which then present a further fire risk.

Also the smoke is likely to have been nasty and left a horrible residue on everything - the insurance co should provide specialist cleaners.

We had a bad fire at work and we weren't allowed in until the cleaning had been done.

Really sorry you have this to deal with.