PLEASE HELP!! house fire! no insurance!!

watson1312

thanks in advance for taking the time to read this! My cousin who was recently widowed had a house fire last night. Luckily no-one was hurt although one of her cats died of smoke inhalation It looks like the fire was electrical and was started by the extracter fan above the hob....the house was not completely ablaze but everything is ruined due to the smoke damage. My cousin has 3 children who stayed with their grandparents last night. We have just discovered this morning that my cousin was not insured!!!! So we are all very worried about what she is going to do to and what help she might be entitled to? Any advice would be very much appreciated. many thanks once again.

mattymoo

Sorry to hear of the loss, in particular the loss of the cat - I know how upsetting that can be.
Unfortunately if there is no insurance then there is nobody really who you can turn to in the private sector for a payout. There might be government hardship benefits available but I have no idea how these work or what the eligibility criteria is.

I have seen cases in the past where a sympathetic article in the local press can help to bring together a local community who might not otherwise be aware of their situation.

jennihen

Does she work? Was the house hers or rented?
Really sorry such a terrible thing happened but some more info would help.
Is the house structurally sound?
Who did her OH work for? - When I had a similar situation Saafa contacted my ex's previous civilian employers who had a charitable fund set aside.
Local newspapers might help . . . .

geri1965_2

If the electrical fault was caused by someone else's negligence then she could possibly claim against them. Was the house rented, has there been any work done on the electrics recently?

If not, then I can't think of anyone who could help (other than sympathetic members of the public, as suggested above).

Sorry to hear about this, it must be very traumatic for her. I had a claim recently from a woman who lost the entire contents of her house in a fire, and wasn't insured. I had to read the fire report, and her little cat also died. There was nothing I could do to help her, as it was caused by DIY electrical works, but it just makes me so sad.

watson1312

thanks everyone for your kind words and advice so far. As far as we know my cousin had a mortgage on the house. Her husband who passed away a few years ago was self employed. My cousin does work and we will be speaking to her later today to find out and inform her of her options... if any? thanks again for your support and empathy.

Oscar_The_Grouch

I'd be surprised if the mortgage company would allow your cousin to be uninsured. Get your cousin to check with the mortgage firm to see if they have records of a policy.

bubblegumcola

Sorry to hear about what happened to your cousin.

I agree with Oscar the grouch, you beat me to it.
If the property your cousin was living in was mortgaged was your cousin not told that they should have insurance. I'm sure with most mortgages its a condition that you have buildings insurance in place. I don't think the mortgage lender is going to be very happy if the property can't be fixed, I would have thought they could withdraw their mortgage. Some banks do include it or you can opt out and have your own which is what we do, we have combined buildings and contents.

jennihen

How old are the children? They have been through a lot. I'd give Social Services a call. They will have dealt with situations like this before and have access to loads of resources.
If this happened to someone I knew I would like to think I could muster up a cleaning/decorating gang. I'd blag anything I could from friends, relatives,local businesses and if the person in question was uncomfortable about accepting charity I would say "Tough - we're doing this for you now because you need help. You can reciprocate the kindness at a later date. . . "

Anihilator

Normally its a condition of mortgages to have insurance.

WASHER

Anihilator wrote: »

Normally its a condition of mortgages to have insurance.

I believe this to be correct. It is amazing how many people on the Debt Free board don't appeared to have buildings/contents insurance, I think they must cancel the insurance once the mortgage is arranged...

WASHER

Charity shops sell furniture at really low prices, and some deliver too for free, she would only need the basics to start with. Have a look on Freecycle as well.