Council house fire help needed please : Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:50 pm  

Hello everyone . I know there are one or two people on here that are (or appear to be) quite knowledgable on legal matters etc, so heres one I need help with .
There was a house fire around 4 am Sunday morning in a council house where my two youngest kids live . Fortunately my two children (both under 5), their older brother , and their mother escaped unharmed .
The house insurance , with it being a council house covers contents only .
The insurance company are sending an assessor round to survey the damage , but they have warned that they will only cover 'contents' . By this they mean ANYTHING that isn't a permanent fixture ie:doors , wallpaper , windows/frames , ceilings , worktops , cupboards... basically anything that is permanently in situ .
The well-known Bradford chainstore that supplied the faulty electric tin-opener that started the fire are sending an assessor too , but they are not too sure about what they are going to do to help .
The council say that seeing is it wasn't anything of theirs that caused the fire that they are not responsible for such fittings .
One question I raised was .. Don't the Leeds City Council have insurance on the properties they own to cover such events ? I thought that was part of what the rent goes towards .

Thanks in advance to anyone who can be of any assistance .

[Matt_Horton]

: Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:55 pm  

Put this on the Sin Bin as well mate. You might get a decent response in there as well

Put this on the Sin Bin as well mate. You might get a decent response in there as well

: Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:59 pm  

Probably get a few saints fans singing to me on Sunday too

Although I really do hope and think that even they wouldn't stoop so low with there been babies involved .

: Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:43 am  

Does the first paragraph in this bit taken from 'DirectGov' mean that they should sort out the building and the contents insurance company should sort out the rest ? Or is there a bit i am missing like a disclaimer or something in the other paragraphs ?

What the council insures

The council insures its council dwellings and, thus, in the case of a fire that destroyed a property the council would claim on its insurance for the cost of repairing the property.

However, the council does not insure any of the contents of its properties that belong to the tenant, (e.g. furniture, decorations or improvements). Therefore as a tenant you may like to consider taking out contents insurance to protect these things. Home contents insurance is available from a variety of insurance companies and probably the best starting point is the Yellow Pages telephone directory.

The council can also give you advice on home contents insurance should you require it. Many councils offer tenants comprehensive insurance cover within their own Home Contents Insurance Scheme. If you take out insurance cover under your council's Home Contents Insurance Scheme, you will need to obtain an official claim form from a local Housing Office. Once you have completed the form you will need to send it to the Council's Insurance Brokers.

: Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:59 am  

A lot of Solicitors firms give a one hour free service. Might be worth ringing round. Failing that try asking for help from the Citizens Advice Bureau.

: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:02 am  

Wicker Man wrote:

A lot of Solicitors firms give a one hour free service. Might be worth ringing round. Failing that try asking for help from the Citizens Advice Bureau.

You'll be lucky to get an hour. Its more like half nowadays.