Fire damage claims for blocks of flats: a landlord’s process

When a fire hits a block of flats, the policyholder, usually the freeholder, the RMC or the RTM company, must start the claim and take three immediate actions. Managing agents typically coordinate this on the policyholder’s behalf. Those three actions are: secure the building and check nobody is at risk; stop further damage with temporary repairs (boarding, drying, isolating services); and notify the insurer or broker with the basic facts while keeping a written log from the first phone call.

• Secure and assess safety before anything else, including liaison with the fire service on site.
• Mitigate further loss with temporary works, but photograph everything first.
• Notify the insurer or broker within hours, not days, and record every conversation.

RICS guidance on rebuild-cost accuracy and the Insurance Act 2015 duty of fair presentation both sit behind this process. Get these three steps right and the rest of the claim, however large, has a fighting chance of running smoothly.

Key Takeaways

Getting a fire claim right for a block of flats depends on acting fast in the first 48 hours, documenting everything before clearance, and keeping sums insured verified against a genuine RICS rebuild-cost assessment.

Table of Contents

• Fire damage claim landlord process: the first 24–48 hours
• Who is responsible for the claim: directors, agents and adjusters?
• What evidence do insurers expect for a fire claim?
• How long does a block fire claim take to settle?
• Recovering costs from leaseholders: excess, shortfall and service charge
• Why underinsurance quietly wrecks fire claims
• What if the insurer disagrees on liability or value?
• How a specialist broker supports a live fire claim
• Vacant flats, arson suspicion and what your policy won’t cover
• The full fire claim timeline, incident to final settlement
• Documents to gather before you even call your insurer
• Mistakes that slow down or shrink a fire claim
• What must you tell tenants and leaseholders about fire damage?
• Working with the fire service and local authority after a fire
• Appointing a loss adjuster: what to expect and how to prepare
• Get specialist support before your next renewal
• Frequently asked questions about fire damage claims for blocks of flats
• Sources

Fire damage claim landlord process: the first 24–48 hours

The first two days decide whether a fire claim runs smoothly or drags on for months. Managing agents who treat this window as an administered project, not a crisis to survive, consistently get better outcomes, because engaged property managers materially improve claim results by controlling mitigation from the outset.

1. Confirm everyone is safe. Liaise with the fire service, note their incident reference number, and record attendance times.
2. Stop further damage. Isolate damaged electrics and gas, arrange boarding, and organise emergency drying if water was used to fight the fire.
3. Photograph before you touch anything. Wide shots, close-ups of damage, and timestamped video, ideally before contractors move debris.
4. Notify your insurer or broker. Give the policy number, date and time of the fire, a short factual timeline, and what you have already done to make the building safe.
5. Follow up in writing within 48 hours with a fuller account and your first photographs attached.

Emergency contacts should be agreed in advance: fire service non-emergency line, your broker’s claims team, an approved emergency contractor, and whoever holds keys or plans for the block.

Pro Tip: Keep every contractor invoice in its original form and avoid clearing debris beyond what safety demands until your loss adjuster has seen the site or confirmed by email that photographs are sufficient.

Who is responsible for the claim: directors, agents and adjusters?

Section 96 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 transfers insurance and management functions to an RTM company once it takes over, but the underlying duty to hold and claim on adequate buildings insurance never disappears. Someone named on the policy has to notify the insurer; a managing agent can run the process, but cannot be the policyholder unless the lease says otherwise.

In practice, the lines split fairly predictably. The agent usually organises emergency repairs and keeps the claims diary. Directors approve spending above agreed limits and sign off on contractor instructions. Leaseholders get kept informed but rarely negotiate directly with the loss adjuster.

Read the managing agent’s role in insurance placement if it is unclear where your contract draws these lines, and check who actually holds the policyholder role in your specific lease structure before a fire ever happens.

What evidence do insurers expect for a fire claim?

Insurers and loss adjusters work from documents, not impressions of how bad the damage looked. Claims guides for blocks of flats consistently list the same core paperwork: the policy schedule, a current rebuild valuation, relevant lease extracts, the fire risk assessment, EICR, alarm and lift maintenance logs, and details of any previous claims on the block.

Photographic evidence needs structure, not just volume. Capture wide establishing shots of each affected area, then close-ups of specific damage, all timestamped and dated before any clearance begins. Keep a simple log of who took each photo and when; that chain of custody matters if quantum is ever disputed.

• Policy schedule and current sums insured
• RICS rebuild-cost assessment or last valuation
• FRA, EICR and lift/alarm logs
• Emergency repair invoices and contractor scopes
• Two like-for-like estimates where practical
• Timestamped photographs and video, pre and post clearance

A basic schedule of loss, itemising damaged fabric, communal fixtures, and any specialist equipment lost, speeds up the insurer’s own forms considerably.

Pro Tip: Ask your loss adjuster early whether they need physical samples (charred timber, cabling) preserved for forensic cause-of-fire investigation before you authorise full clearance.

How long does a block fire claim take to settle?

Fire claims for blocks of flats rarely follow a straight line, but the stages are consistent: notification, emergency works, insurer appointment of a loss adjuster, one or more site inspections, agreement of scope and estimates, interim payments, reinstatement, then final settlement.

1. Notification and emergency works happen in the first days, often overlapping.
2. Loss adjuster appointment typically follows within a week of a substantial claim.
3. Site inspection usually happens within two to three weeks, sometimes sooner for urgent structural risk.
4. Scope and estimates get agreed once the adjuster and your contractor align on the extent of works.
5. Interim payments can be released once the adjuster has enough evidence of incurred cost, often emergency invoices plus a schedule of loss.
6. Reinstatement or rebuild for major structural fires can run months, sometimes over a year, where planning consents or party wall issues are involved.
7. Final settlement follows practical completion and sign-off against the agreed scope.

A small kitchen fire confined to one flat might settle within weeks. A major structural fire affecting communal areas, lift shafts, or multiple flats can take well over a year, and claims handling for blocks of flats treats this as a genuine lifecycle rather than a single event. Underinsurance checks, structural surveys, and planning approvals are the three most common causes of delay. Leaseholders will want clarity early on temporary rehousing, loss of rent, and how long the indemnity period actually covers them.

Recovering costs from leaseholders: excess, shortfall and service charge

Whether the insurance excess or an underinsurance shortfall lands on the service charge or on an individual leaseholder depends almost entirely on lease wording. Most modern leases treat the excess as a communal cost recovered through the service charge, but leases vary, and some allow direct recharge where a leaseholder caused the fire through negligence.

Communicate with leaseholders in stages rather than all at once:

1. Within days: confirm safety status, immediate works underway, and any temporary rehousing arrangements.
2. Within a fortnight: give a realistic timescale for the adjuster’s assessment and likely scope of works.
3. Once scope is agreed: explain how costs will be treated, including whether the excess or any shortfall will appear on the service charge.

Section 20 consultation is triggered where the RMC or RTM proposes qualifying works above the statutory thresholds, and an insurance shortfall does not exempt you from that obligation, even where the fire created urgency. Keep contractor invoices, the insurer’s written offer, the agreed schedule of works, and board minutes authorising the cost treatment. That paper trail is what protects directors if a leaseholder later challenges the recharge.

Why underinsurance quietly wrecks fire claims

Reinstatement cover, rebuilding to the same standard with a day-one uplift, is almost always the right basis for a block of flats, rather than an indemnity basis that factors in wear and depreciation. The gap between the two only becomes obvious after a serious fire, when the insurer applies average, a proportional reduction in payout that mirrors how far the sum insured falls short of the true rebuild cost.

RICS guidance on property management stresses rebuild-cost assessments as a defence against exactly this problem, alongside documented maintenance records. A block insured for significantly less than the true rebuild cost can be underinsured, and a serious fire claim could see the payout reduced proportionally to that shortfall, regardless of the actual damage cost.

• Commission a RICS rebuild-cost assessment rather than relying on purchase price or an outdated valuation.
• Review the figure at every renewal, not just when something feels obviously wrong.
• Declare material changes, extensions, cladding remediation, new plant, at renewal, not after a claim.

Get a professional RICS rebuild cost assessment done before renewal, not after a fire forces the question.

What if the insurer disagrees on liability or value?

A decline or a disputed valuation is not the end of the road, but it does demand a disciplined response. Start by requesting the insurer’s reasons in writing, and preserve every piece of correspondence and every invoice from day one, because gaps in the paper trail are exactly what insurers lean on.

1. Request the formal decline reason in writing and log the date received.
2. Escalate internally to the insurer’s complaints team if the reasoning looks weak or contradicts earlier correspondence.
3. Instruct an independent loss assessor or RICS surveyor where quantum, not liability, is the dispute, since their job is validating scope and challenging undervaluation.
4. Bring in a solicitor where liability itself is contested, particularly around exclusions or alleged non-disclosure.
5. Consider the Financial Ombudsman Service for smaller disputes, or the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) where leaseholders challenge the reasonableness of insurance costs.

Civil litigation remains the last resort, expensive and slow, but sometimes necessary where quantum is significantly and stubbornly wrong.

Pro Tip: Keep your fire risk assessment, EICR and maintenance logs somewhere a solicitor can access instantly, they are often the first documents an insurer’s legal team asks to review.

How a specialist broker supports a live fire claim

A broker that only sells the policy and disappears at renewal is of limited use once a fire actually happens. A specialist that stays involved through the claim can coordinate the loss adjuster relationship, push for interim payments when cash flow is tight, and make sure the settlement figure reflects genuine reinstatement cost rather than a conservative first offer.

• Immediate coordination between you, the insurer and the appointed loss adjuster from day one.
• Access to RICS surveyors for rebuild-cost validation if the insurer’s own figures look light.
• Negotiation support on interim payments, so urgent works do not stall for lack of funds.
• Clear guidance on how any excess or shortfall should be allocated across service accounts.

Specialist brokers add value once a claim is live, not just at placement, by making sure adjusters see the full scope of damage and settlement figures reflect true reinstatement costs, exactly the kind of support that separates a six-week interim payment from a six-month standoff.

Vacant flats, arson suspicion and what your policy won’t cover

An empty flat above the shop, or a whole block mid-refurbishment, changes your risk profile the moment the last resident leaves. Most buildings insurance policies carry unoccupancy clauses that require notification once a unit or the whole building stands empty beyond a set period, commonly 30 or 60 days depending on the insurer. Miss that notification and you risk the insurer treating any subsequent fire claim as void, regardless of cause.

Arson, or even suspected arson, adds a second layer of complexity. Insurers will usually still pay a legitimate claim where the policyholder had nothing to do with starting the fire, but expect a police investigation, a fire service report, and sometimes a forensic cause-of-fire assessment before they settle. Delays here are normal, not a sign the insurer is stalling. Cooperate fully with the police reference number and share it with your insurer immediately, since a live criminal investigation actually strengthens your position by independently corroborating that the fire was not policyholder-caused.

Typical exclusions and uninsured risks worth checking now, not after a fire, include: damage from wear and tear that contributed to fire spread (rotten wiring left unaddressed for years), losses where a required fire risk assessment was overdue or ignored, and gaps around terrorism-related fire damage, which usually needs separate cover through Pool Re rather than a standard buildings policy. Flood-related fire suppression damage in flood-risk postcodes can also sit outside standard cover unless Flood Re-backed protection has been arranged. Review your policy wording for unoccupancy clauses and named exclusions annually, not just at renewal, and read more on common exclusions affecting property investors if you manage any units that sit empty between tenancies.

The full fire claim timeline, incident to final settlement

Mapping the whole process against realistic timeframes helps directors plan cashflow and manage leaseholder expectations honestly, rather than promising a settlement date nobody can actually predict.

Day 0 to 2: Fire occurs, emergency services attend, immediate safety and mitigation actions taken, insurer notified with basic facts, first photographs captured.

Day 2 to 14: Written follow-up sent to insurer, loss adjuster appointed for anything beyond minor damage, initial site inspection arranged, emergency repair invoices start accumulating.

Week 2 to 6: Scope of works discussed between adjuster, your contractor, and any independent loss assessor. Like-for-like estimates gathered. First interim payment often requested here if emergency costs are substantial.

Month 2 to 6: For anything beyond a single-flat fire, structural surveys, planning consents where needed, and Section 20 consultation (if triggered) run in parallel with continued interim funding. This is where most delays actually happen, not through insurer reluctance but through the practical mechanics of getting quotes, consents, and contractor availability aligned.

Month 6 onward (major claims only): Reinstatement works proceed, with staged payments against completed work. Final settlement follows practical completion, sign-off against the agreed schedule, and reconciliation of any interim payments already made.

A confined kitchen fire in one flat can realistically close out within six to eight weeks. A fire that takes out a stairwell, lift shaft, or multiple flats routinely runs past twelve months once structural remediation and consultation requirements stack up. Building this timeline into your communication with leaseholders from week one avoids the single most common complaint agents hear: nobody told us how long this would take.

Documents to gather before you even call your insurer

Speed at notification comes from preparation done long before any fire, not from scrambling once smoke has cleared. The single biggest time-saver is having a folder, physical or digital, that any director or agent can locate within minutes of an incident.

Core documents worth keeping permanently accessible include the current buildings insurance policy schedule and wording, the most recent RICS rebuild-cost assessment, lease agreements or extracts covering insurance and service charge clauses, and details of any previous insurance claims on the block, including cause and settlement value.

Add to that the fire risk assessment, current EICR certificate, lift and alarm maintenance logs, and a simple contact sheet: broker, appointed contractors, and any board members with authority to approve emergency spend. Where the block has had recent works, extensions, cladding remediation, or communal area refurbishment, keep the paperwork showing what changed and when, since insurers will ask whether those changes were declared.

Missing paperwork does not sink a claim outright, but it slows everything down while the adjuster requests copies you should have had ready. A managing agent who keeps this folder updated annually, rather than reconstructing it under pressure, routinely gets interim payments released faster simply because the evidence trail is already complete. Review 10 essential tips for RMCs arranging block insurance if you are building this folder from scratch for the first time.

Mistakes that slow down or shrink a fire claim

The same handful of errors recur across fire claims for blocks of flats, and nearly all of them are avoidable with a bit of foresight rather than expensive specialist advice.

Clearing debris or starting repairs before photographing the damage properly is the most common, and the most costly. Once evidence is gone, you are relying entirely on the adjuster’s judgement of your account, with nothing to independently support it. A close second is failing to notify the insurer promptly, sometimes because nobody was quite sure whose job it was, which can itself become grounds for the insurer to query the claim under the duty of fair presentation.

Underestimating the rebuild-cost figure is a slower-burning mistake that only surfaces at the worst possible moment, mid-claim, when average kicks in and cuts the payout. Directors who assume the sum insured set five years ago is still accurate are frequently wrong, particularly given construction cost inflation since 2020.

Poor leaseholder communication creates a different kind of damage: reputational and legal. Leaseholders left in the dark for weeks tend to escalate complaints, sometimes to the point of tribunal challenges over service charge decisions made during the claim. Equally, boards that skip Section 20 consultation because “it’s an emergency” often misjudge which elements of the works are genuinely urgent versus which could reasonably wait for proper consultation.

Finally, accepting a first settlement offer without independent verification against a proper rebuild valuation leaves money on the table more often than directors realise, particularly on larger structural claims where quantum negotiation genuinely matters.

What must you tell tenants and leaseholders about fire damage?

Leaseholders and tenants have a reasonable expectation of prompt, honest information, and in some respects a legal one. Under most leases, the freeholder or RMC has an obligation to provide information about the buildings insurance policy on request, including confirmation that a valid claim has been notified.

Beyond the lease itself, general landlord obligations around habitability mean tenants in affected flats need clear, timely information about whether their home remains safe to occupy, and if not, what alternative arrangements apply. Where a fire renders a unit uninhabitable, tenants are entitled to know promptly whether loss of rent or alternative accommodation cover applies, and for how long, since that directly affects their own housing decisions.

Directors also carry a duty of transparency around how insurance-related costs will be treated on the service charge, particularly where an excess or shortfall might be recharged. Leaseholders who discover a recharge only when they see their service charge demand, with no prior warning, have legitimate grounds for complaint, and potentially for challenging the charge at tribunal.

There is no single statutory “fire disclosure” form for landlords to complete in this context, but the combination of lease obligations, service charge transparency rules, and basic habitability duties adds up to a clear practical standard: tell leaseholders and tenants what has happened, what it means for them, and how costs will be handled, in writing, and early. Directors who treat this as optional exposure themselves to complaints that are entirely avoidable with a two-paragraph update email sent within the first week.

Working with the fire service and local authority after a fire

The fire service’s role does not end when the trucks leave. Get their incident reference number before they depart, since your insurer will ask for it, and it independently corroborates your timeline of events. Where the fire was significant, expect a formal fire investigation report, which can take several weeks to finalise but becomes an important piece of evidence for both cause determination and any dispute over liability.

Local authority involvement varies by severity. A building control officer may need to inspect structural damage before reoccupation is permitted, particularly where load-bearing elements were affected. Environmental health may get involved where there are habitability concerns for remaining residents, especially around heating, water, or sanitation in communal areas.

Where a block becomes wholly or partially uninhabitable, the local authority’s housing team may need to be informed, particularly if any residents require emergency accommodation and the private arrangements you can offer are insufficient. Keep a simple log of every local authority contact, department, officer name, reference number, and outcome, alongside your insurance claim file. These records frequently become relevant later, either to support the insurer’s assessment of habitability or to demonstrate the block acted responsibly if a dispute arises.

Building control sign-off before reoccupation is not optional paperwork; skipping it exposes directors personally if anyone is later injured in a space that was not actually safe to reoccupy, whatever the insurer’s own timeline pressures might suggest.

Appointing a loss adjuster: what to expect and how to prepare

The loss adjuster works for the insurer, not for you, and understanding that distinction shapes how you should approach the relationship. Their job is to validate the claim, assess scope, and recommend a settlement figure to the insurer, all of which makes preparation on your side essential rather than optional.

Before the first site visit, have your evidence folder ready: photographs, the schedule of loss, contractor scopes, and any independent estimates you have already gathered. Adjusters who arrive to a well-organised, evidenced claim tend to move faster and recognise scope more completely than when they are working from a verbal account and a handful of phone photos.

Where the claim is substantial or the relationship with the insurer’s adjuster feels adversarial, consider instructing an independent loss assessor. Unlike the insurer’s adjuster, a loss assessor works exclusively for you, checking that scope, quantum, and settlement offers genuinely reflect reinstatement cost rather than a conservative starting position. This is a paid service, typically a percentage of the settlement, but on a major structural fire claim it frequently pays for itself many times over.

Recovery specialists, sometimes called loss recovery consultants, focus specifically on maximising settlement value on complex or contested claims, often working alongside your existing broker rather than replacing them. They are worth considering where a claim involves significant underinsurance uncertainty, disputed cause, or multiple stakeholders with competing interests, exactly the conditions that turn a straightforward fire claim into a protracted negotiation.

A specialist’s view on getting fire claims right

Every serious fire claim we see hinges on the same two things: what happened in the first 24 hours, and whether the sums insured were accurate before the fire ever started. Directors who photograph everything and commission a proper RICS rebuild-cost assessment before renewal rarely face the worst disputes…

Get specialist support before your next renewal

Reading a claims process is one thing; having someone who has coordinated hundreds of them on your side is another. Flatinsurance works exclusively with blocks of flats, RMCs, RTMs and managing agents, which means our team understands loss adjuster negotiations, rebuild-cost accuracy and service charge cost allocation in a way a generalist broker simply does not.

If your current sums insured have not been checked by a chartered surveyor recently, that is the single biggest risk sitting quietly on your policy. We arrange RICS rebuild-cost assessments alongside placement, so you are never relying on guesswork if a fire ever forces the question. Whether you are approaching renewal or dealing with a live claim right now, get a specialist block of flats insurance quote or request an urgent call with our claims team to check where you currently stand.

Frequently asked questions about fire damage claims for blocks of flats

Who is legally responsible for starting a fire damage claim on a block of flats?
The policyholder named on the buildings insurance policy, usually the freeholder, RMC or RTM company, holds the legal responsibility. Managing agents typically run the day-to-day process on the policyholder’s behalf.

How quickly must a fire be reported to the insurer?
Report the basic facts, policy number, date, time and immediate actions taken, within hours if possible, and follow up in writing within 24 to 48 hours with fuller detail and photographs.

What happens if the building was underinsured when the fire occurred?
The insurer will typically apply average, reducing your settlement proportionally to how far the sum insured fell short of the true rebuild cost, regardless of the actual damage amount.

Can leaseholders be charged for the insurance excess after a fire?
It depends on lease wording. Most leases treat the excess as a communal service charge cost, though some allow direct recharge to a leaseholder whose negligence caused the fire.

When should a managing agent instruct an independent loss assessor?
Consider one on substantial claims where quantum is disputed or the settlement offer looks conservative against a proper rebuild valuation, since a loss assessor works for you rather than the insurer.

This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified financial advisor. Consult a qualified financial professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.

Sources

• Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (section 96 notes)
• Managing the risk: the critical role of property managers in insurance claims | Sedgwick
• Residential block insurance claims handling: the complete 2026 guide | Winfields Block Management
• Insuring a block of flats: a practical, in‑depth guide | Quote‑Genie

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