FIRE CLAIM: THE FIRST 72 HOURS
The first 72 hours, from Claims Desk by RFS

Once people are safe, almost everything that decides a fire claim
happens in the next three days: what is preserved, and what can be
evidenced.

WHAT LOSES IT
Clearing up. The debris is the evidence of what was there and how much
of it there was, and a cleared site turns a provable loss into an
argument about your word.

1. Make it safe, then stop clearing up  [Immediately]
   Once people are safe and the fire is out, stop. The instinct to
   clean is the most expensive instinct in a fire claim. Nothing
   goes to the scrap dealer, nothing is swept, nothing is repaired.

2. Tell the insurer today  [Same day]
   An email with the policy number, the date and time, the premises
   and one line on what happened. It does not need to be complete.
   It needs to be today.

3. Start the official records  [Day 1]
   The fire brigade report, and the police report where there is any
   question of cause. Both take time to obtain and every insurer
   will ask for them, so request them before you are asked.

4. Photograph before anything moves  [Before the survey]
   Wide shots of the whole area first, then close shots of
   individual damaged items, then the parts that survived.
   Photograph stock as it lies. Walk the site on video, narrating
   what each area held.

5. Assemble what proves the value  [Days 1 to 3]
   Stock statements, purchase invoices, the last stock declaration
   given to your bank, the fixed asset register, production records,
   GST returns. A fire claim is won or lost on whether the value at
   risk can be evidenced.

6. Meet the surveyor with your papers ready  [At survey]
   Their report largely decides the claim and it is written from
   what they are shown on the day. Walk the site with them. Do not
   leave them to form a view alone and correct it later.

7. Keep salvage until you are told in writing  [Until settled]
   Damaged stock and machinery still belong to the claim. Do not
   sell, scrap or dispose of salvage without the insurer's written
   agreement on what happens to the proceeds.

8. Record the business interruption separately  [From day 1]
   If you carry it, loss of profit is a distinct claim with its own
   evidence. Start the record of lost production and lost orders on
   day one; it cannot be reconstructed convincingly later.

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Claims Desk by RFS - claimsdesk.in - 92514 56334
We run insurance claims end to end, including on policies placed
elsewhere. Nothing here is legal advice, and what your policy pays
is decided by its wording and the facts of the loss. Where this
says 'the time your policy sets', read your own wording: the
periods genuinely differ and a wrong one costs the claim.