Rumours that insurance companies would refuse to pay out for personal injuries in the event of a fire where the ‘responsible person’ had not carried out an adequate fire risk assessment are wrong, according to a leading fire insurance specialist.
Speaking at a Fire 06 seminar on the impact of the RRO, Mark Newton of Royal & Sunalliance said insurers would always pay out, even if the employer or building owner has been found not to comply with the fire risk assessment. Such policy holders would, however, find it very difficult to renew their cover – at least on favourable terms. But conversely, if a company shows it has done well on its fire risk assessment and general fire precautions, it can expect a good deal.
But he warned of the dangers of simply taking a normal health and safety workplace risk assessment and applying it to fire. “A fire risk assessment is specific to both people and buildings and insurers are equally concerned with both. So the most important aspect of the new law for us is the changing emphasis from people escaping from a fire, to preventing one breaking out in the first place.”
The insurance industry could not act as a ‘policeman’ for the RRO, he added, mainly because in the case of most small businesses, insurers rarely got to see their customers or their premises.
On the fire and rescue service’s role, he said part of the modernisation agenda was the Integrated Risk Management Plan, which includes shifting firefighting resources from commercial centres – which are generally deemed lower risk – to dense residential areas. If that results in a premises being far from a fire station, this may be taken into account in arranging insurance terms, though again the building owner can mitigate any increase in premiums by demonstrating a good approach to fire safety.
On the subject of the 700,000 automatic fire alarms in the UK, Mr Newton said the industry was taking a leaf out of the intruder alarm sector’s book. There would be more emphasis on the proper installation and maintenance of automatic fire alarm, with reduced response to those that repeatedly generate false alarms. This will mean a greater emphasis on confirmation of alarms outside normal hours, either by technology or by staff such as security officers.
