More than 17,000 house fires break out in Australia every year1 and, it turns out, the kitchen is a bit of a fire hotspot.
“Almost half of all fires in the home start in the kitchen due to unattended cooking,” says Superintendent Gary White, Community Engagement Manager at Fire and Rescue NSW. “It’s why we urge the community to always ‘keep looking when cooking’ – make sure you stay in the kitchen while you’re cooking and turn off the stove before you leave.”
However, if a kitchen fire does ignite in your home, it’s worth knowing what to do to get it under control safely and, once you have, how to make an insurance claim on your home insurance to help cover the costs of repairing the damage.
How to deal with a kitchen fire
Common causes of kitchen fires include electrical faults, and flammable items such as paper towels,2 tea towels and oven mitts being left too close to the stove or cooktop.3 But, given many kitchen fires are caused by cooking that’s been left unattended,2 White shares this advice for dealing with a pan that catches fire:
“Turn off the stove if it’s safe to do so and use the lid to cover the flame,” he says. “Never use water to put out fat and oil fires as water can cause the fire to spread rapidly and cause horrific burns.”
“And don’t carry pans of hot or burning oil through the house as this may spread the fire and cause serious injury.”
If you have a kitchen fire extinguisher or a fire blanket handy, White says these can be used in the first few seconds of ignition if you are confident.
A fire that starts on the stove can quickly travel up into the roof and spread to the rest of the house if there’s built-up grease and fat around it or the rangehood.2 If a kitchen fire becomes out of control, White advises leaving the kitchen immediately, closing the door and calling Triple Zero (000).
How does home insurance cover a kitchen fire?
At Youi, loss or damage caused by an accidental kitchen fire to your home’s structure or permanently attached fixtures and fittings, such as your kitchen cabinetry or oven, is covered by Buildings insurance. If a kitchen fire causes loss or damage to your belongings, they may be covered by Contents insurance.4
“And, while we always want people to call Triple Zero (000) if necessary, this cover isn’t impacted by the actions you do or don’t take in the moment to put out an accidental fire in your kitchen,” says Rachel Eden, Youi’s Home Claims Manager. “Similarly, cover isn’t dependent on having a fire extinguisher or fire blanket on hand at home.”
What is the claims process for a house fire?
“At Youi, you simply need to start by lodging the claim with us,” says Eden, who explains that you can do this by calling 13 YOUI (9684) or starting your claim online.
“All you need to provide us with is the date and the time of the kitchen fire – if you’re on the phone to us, we can even find your insurance policy number if you don’t have it.”
Eden explains that while you don’t have to lodge a claim with Youi within a certain timeframe after a kitchen fire occurs, the sooner the better, particularly because any further loss or damage to your buildings or contents that occurs by delaying the claims process may not be covered.
“And because we strive to answer every phone call around 30 seconds at Youi, it doesn’t take long at all to lodge a claim,” says Eden.
“Once the claim is lodged, we manage the rest of the process from our end, working closely with a great service provider network and our internal assessors who may visit your home. We’ll also organise and pay for a fire investigation report if that’s something that’ll assist with your claim.”
Eden says every claim is assigned to a specific Youi claims advisor who’ll maintain contact with you throughout the entire claims process.
“However, if you want or need to contact Youi to ask a question at any stage during the process, everyone you reach when you phone our call centre will be able to assist you,” she adds.
“At Youi, we’re here to help you understand both the circumstances of the event and how we can help you every step of the way.”
If you have Buildings insurance and your claim is accepted, Youi will pay for temporary accommodation for up to 12 months if you can’t live at your home while it’s being repaired or rebuilt.4
What if I’m renting and there’s a kitchen fire?
If you’re renting, it’s your responsibility as a tenant to let your landlord know about any damage that occurs to the property as soon as possible.5
“Plus, if you have a Youi Contents insurance policy for the property you’re renting and there’s a fire that causes damage or loss to your belongings, we may need to contact the property owner to validate that the incident occurred as part of the claims process,” says Eden. “But the process of lodging a claim with us is exactly the same.”
If your Contents insurance claim is accepted and you can’t live at your rented property due to the fire damage, Youi will pay for additional rent costs incurred for temporary accommodation for up to one month so you can live elsewhere while repairs are being carried out.4
You may also want to consider creating a home fire safety checklist – including some important practices to adopt in your kitchen, such as regular checks that smoke alarms and heavily used cooking appliances are in good working order, and that power points or power boards are not being overloaded.
To discover whether Youi’s Buildings insurance or Contents insurance may suit your circumstances in the event of a kitchen fire at home, consider starting a quote.
1 Source: Preventive Medicine Reports – Comparison of causes, characteristics and consequences of residential fires in social and non-social housing dwellings in New South Wales, Australia, August 2022
2 Source: Country Fire Authority Victoria – About House Fires
3 Source: Fire and Rescue NSW – Kitchen Fire Safety
4 Exclusions, limits and additional fees may apply. See the Home & Contents PDS for full details.
5 Source: NSW Government – Rental property maintenance responsibilities
