With the cold weather upon us it means the risk of fires in the home increases. After kitchen fires, fires involving heaters and dryers are the next most common reason fires start in the home.

Personal effects gone forever - $270k Claim

One of my clients had a fire last winter where a duvet caught fire when it fell off a bed on to a heater. Thankfully my client and their family managed to get out of the house during the fire. There was significant damage, and over $270,000 claims on their home insurance, but the devastating thing was that many of their personal effects were lost forever.

Every winter I dread getting a call from a client who's experienced a winter heating related fire.  So I want to pass on my top 5 tips to keep you and your family safe and claim free this winter.

5 Tips for Avoiding Fires in Your Home

1. Remember the heater-meter rule - always keep furniture, curtains, clothes and children at least one meter away from heaters and fire places.
    
2. Have your electric blankets checked by a service person. Old electric blankets can cause electric shock, fire and possibly even death.
    
3. Check smoke alarms are working. Test them once a month.
    
4. Do not overload multiboards. Ensure one appliance per wall or multiboard socket only.
    
5. Don’t overload clothes dryers and clean the lint filter after each load cycle.

Related Links

Home Insurance

Contents Insurance

NZ Fire Service Website - Fire Safety for Your Home