Electrical Fires and High Value Contents Insurance

Last year saw a rise in electrical house fires which could arguably be linked to the rise in small chargeable devices being left unattended, such as charging mobile phones overnight. Highworth Insurance looks at this alongside the importance of smoke alarms in the home and having suitable levels of high value contents insurance should the worse occur.

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Electricals at large in our homes

Electrical appliances are a staple of modern day life and most of us barely notice the integral part they play in our lives until we experience a power cut and have to live without them. Most are designed to make our lives easier, to quietly get on with work in the background without disturbing us; we barely give a second thought to the dishwasher or washing machine humming away in the background, or to the fridge constantly working in the kitchen, the games consoles and sound systems ready to spring to life in an instant, not to mention the kettle, the toaster, the vacuum, phones, laptops and tablets… the list goes on. It’s not until we stop to think about it, that we realise we have a veritable army of electronics in our homes, all drawing electricity and all, sadly, a potential fire risk.

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It pays to be prepared

It pays every now and then to stop and take stock of your electrical items and perhaps reconsider how you use them. Crucial to this is looking at the use of sockets in your home, are you leaving anything charging overnight? Perhaps it’s not charging, but do you leave the charger plugged in ready for the next time you need it? Have you unwittingly overloaded plug sockets? We all do it, but it can take just 30 minutes have a quick check, re-examine our electrical appliances and make our homes just that little bit safer.

Simple tips that could make all the difference:

If you are leaving a charger plugged in, at the very least switch it off at the wall.

Think about where you are charging items, could these surfaces catch fire if the battery overheats whilst you’re not there?

Be there – try not to leave charging items unattended for extended periods of time.

Use the ‘Socket Overload Calculator’ provided by Electrical Safety First – it’s a very simple and effective way of instantly checking that your sockets are safe.

Register your electrical appliances when you buy them – this enables manufactures to contact you directly should an electrical product become faulty and be recalled.

Regularly check your smoke alarms.

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Last but not least – check your contents insurance

Make sure you have the correct levels of buildings and contents insurance. Not all electrical fires are a direct fault of someone inside the home. Yes, sleeping with your mobile phone under the pillow so you can hear the alarm is preventable, but sometimes electricals do simply catch fire, they maybe old, they can malfunction, it’s a fact of the modern age we live in and it’s a risk we all take. With that in mind, go and check your smoke alarms. After that, it’s a good idea to make sure that you have the correct level of high value contents insurance just in case.

Talk to us about High Value Contents Insurance

You can talk to any one of our experienced Account Managers about the various options available to you for high value contents insurance. They will be able to give you a quick quote based on your conversation and provide advice on which policy is best suited you and your unique requirements. You can call our Account Managers Monday to Friday between 9am and 6:30pm and on Saturdays between 9am and 12:30pm on 01202 937430.