Fire Damage Insurance Claim Process

Fire insurance claims are among the most complex general insurance claims in Australia. Unlike water damage, fire scenes may involve forensic investigation alongside the insurance process, and secondary smoke damage — the most frequently underpaid element — evolves rapidly in the first 24–72 hours. The steps below give you the best chance of a full settlement.

• Step 1 — Make-safe and safety first: Do not re-enter a fire-damaged property until fire services have confirmed it is structurally safe. Arrange emergency make-safe works — boarding broken windows, tarping compromised roofing, securing the perimeter. Document all make-safe works before and after. Keep every receipt; these costs are typically claimable.
• Step 2 — Notify your insurer: Contact your insurer within 24–48 hours. Provide your policy number, the date and approximate time of the fire, and a brief description of what occurred. Request a claim number and ask when an assessor will attend. Do not authorise permanent repairs at this stage.
• Step 3 — Photograph all damage before any cleanup: Document every room from the doorway first (wide shot), then close-ups of soot deposition, structural damage, and contents. Prioritise smoke migration to secondary rooms and HVAC return air grilles — these are the areas insurers most commonly underpay. Do not disturb the fire origin zone until the cause of fire is formally determined.
• Step 4 — Lodge your claim: Submit your claim with initial photographic documentation. You do not need a complete scope at this stage. Specify all damage categories: structure, smoke and soot, contents, HVAC contamination, and any secondary water damage from fire suppression.
• Step 5 — Insurer appoints an assessor: The insurer's loss assessor works for the insurer, not you. They are incentivised to narrow the scope of works. Before their visit, arrange an independent IICRC S700-certified scope of works so you have a documented counter-position if the assessor underscopes secondary smoke damage.
• Step 6 — Scope dispute process: If you disagree with the insurer's scope or valuation, lodge a formal internal dispute (IDR). Provide your independent IICRC-certified scope of works. The insurer must respond within 30 days. If unresolved, escalate to AFCA.
• Step 7 — Restoration and sign-off: Once the scope is agreed, restoration work is scheduled. Ensure your contractor provides a completion report with final inspection sign-off before you accept settlement. Do not sign a release or accept final payment until all agreed works are complete and documented.

Fire damage assessors — particularly those attending within 48 hours of a major event when assessor availability is stretched — frequently underscope four categories of damage. Understanding these gaps allows you to document them proactively before the assessor attends.

• Smoke and soot migration to adjacent rooms: Smoke is a complex aerosol that permeates porous materials — plasterboard, insulation, carpet, soft furnishings, timber — in rooms that appear undamaged. Assessors who only inspect the fire origin zone will miss this contamination. Photograph soot deposition in every room, including bathrooms and storage areas, before the assessor attends.
• HVAC contamination: Return air and supply registers spread smoke particles throughout the entire ducting system during and after a fire. Contaminated ducting requires full cleaning or replacement — a scope item commonly omitted from insurer assessments. Remove the cover plate from return air grilles and photograph the interior of the duct before any cleaning.
• Structural drying requirements after firefighting: Water used in fire suppression — from fire services or sprinklers — soaks into floors, walls, and ceilings. Without professional structural drying to IICRC S500 target moisture contents, this secondary water damage causes mould growth, structural movement, and subfloor deterioration. Assessors focused on fire damage often fail to account for the water damage component.
• Secondary damage from water used to fight fire: The water damage component of a fire claim is separate from the fire and smoke component. Document water lines on walls and ceilings, standing water in subfloor spaces, and moisture readings in walls adjacent to fire suppression zones. This establishes causation for any secondary water damage claim.

The ANSI/IICRC S700:2025 Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration Standard is the benchmark document for professional fire restoration in Australia. Insurers and AFCA adjudicators increasingly require evidence that restoration work was performed to this standard before accepting claim sign-off.

• S700:2025 governs fire and smoke restoration: The standard defines the inspection, assessment, and remediation requirements for fire, smoke, and soot damage — including secondary smoke permeation, HVAC contamination, and odour control treatment.
• Psychrometric drying logs: Where firefighting water has caused secondary moisture damage, S700-certified contractors produce psychrometric drying logs documenting daily temperature, relative humidity, and material moisture content. These logs demonstrate that structural drying was completed to target moisture content under IICRC S500 protocols — preventing later disputes over mould or structural issues.
• Thermal fogging and ozone treatment documentation: S700 requires documentation of odour control treatments including thermal fogging, ozone treatment, and hydroxyl generation. Insurers can dispute ongoing odour complaints if treatment records are absent.
• Insurers increasingly require S700-certified work for claim sign-off: Completion reports from S700-certified contractors — documenting the full scope, treatment methods, and final clearance readings — give insurers the evidence they need to close the claim and reduce the risk of secondary claims arising after sign-off.

Four dispute categories account for the majority of fire insurance claim disagreements in Australia. Knowing them in advance — and building your documentation to pre-empt them — significantly improves your settlement outcome.

• Smoke damage scope denial: Insurers frequently accept the fire-damaged rooms but dispute smoke remediation in secondary rooms, arguing the contamination is cosmetic. Counter with an IICRC S700-certified scope documenting soot depth, odour permeation, and HVAC contamination across the full property.
• Contents depreciation disputes: Insurers may apply actual cash value (ACV) depreciation to contents that your policy covers on a replacement cost value (RCV) basis. Check your PDS carefully. For high-value items, provide serial numbers, purchase records, and manufacturer's suggested retail pricing. Dispute any depreciation that is inconsistent with your policy terms in writing.
• Rebuild vs repair decisions: Insurers may prefer repair over rebuild even where structural damage makes full repair uneconomic or where repaired elements will not match the original standard. Commission an independent building report identifying why rebuild is the appropriate response. AFCA accepts rebuild vs repair disputes.
• Betterment clauses: Some policies allow insurers to apply a betterment deduction — reducing the payout because the repair or rebuild will result in a "better than before" outcome. Betterment deductions must be reasonable and are subject to challenge at AFCA if applied inappropriately.

If your fire claim dispute is unresolved through the insurer's Internal Dispute Resolution process, escalate to AFCA. AFCA is free, its determinations are binding on insurers, and fire damage disputes — particularly secondary smoke underpayment — are a well-established category where certified documentation significantly improves outcomes.