Fire, insurance & risk
After a fire, an adjuster reads your cleaning file as a due-diligence trail. Here is exactly what they ask for - and the gaps that turn a claim into a dispute.
The short answer
After a kitchen fire the insurer appoints a loss adjuster who works out the cause and tests whether the policy's cleaning condition was met before authorising payment. They ask for TR19 certificates at the right dates, the post-clean readings, before-and-after photos, the contractor's accreditation, and proof that recommendations were acted on. Gaps in that trail are what turn a claim into a dispute.
The core documents
First the adjuster wants the TR19 Grease certificates for the whole system, and they check the dates against the interval your use band or policy required - an overdue clean is an immediate red flag. Then the post-clean verification report with pre and post grease-thickness readings in microns, which proves the clean actually reduced deposits rather than merely happening; the recognised residual target is under about fifty microns. Alongside those, before-and-after photographs of the system show the condition each visit found and left.
These three together are the spine of the file. A certificate with no readings and no photographs is weak evidence; readings and images that show grease being driven down to target at a documented interval are strong.
Who did the work
The adjuster also checks who carried out the clean. A certificate from a non-accredited contractor may not be accepted; they look for a BESA-qualified operative and, where relevant, that the clean was properly notified on the BESA Ventilation Hygiene Register by the business that actually did it - retrospective certification is not allowed, so a certificate for a job that was subcontracted or never registered may not stand up when it is tested after a fire.
They read the contractor's recommendations too, and look for proof they were acted on. If an earlier report flagged an inaccessible area or advised more access panels, the adjuster wants evidence that was addressed - unactioned recommendations are among the clearest signs that a maintenance regime existed on paper but not in practice.
The wider picture
Finally the adjuster ties the cleaning evidence to the fire risk assessment and the fire-service damage report. The crucial point is that a claim can be challenged even where the fire did not start in the extract system - if spread through a grease-laden duct can be attributed to inadequate maintenance, the policy condition is still in play. The file is judged as a whole: wrong intervals, missing readings, an unaccredited certificate or an ignored recommendation are each enough to move a claim from routine payment into dispute.
The way to be ready for a loss adjuster is to keep the file complete before you ever need it - certificates, readings, photographs, accreditation and a closed-out recommendations log, all in date order.
Questions
The TR19 certificates for the whole system at the correct dates, the post-clean verification report with pre and post micron readings, before-and-after photographs, the contractor's accreditation, and proof that any recommendations were acted on.
The adjuster checks the cleaning dates against the interval your use band or policy required. An overdue clean is an immediate red flag that the maintenance condition may not have been met.
Yes. A certificate from a non-accredited contractor may not be accepted, and the adjuster may check the clean was properly notified on the BESA Ventilation Hygiene Register by the business that did it - retrospective certification is not allowed.
Yes. If spread through a grease-laden duct can be attributed to inadequate maintenance, the policy condition is in play even where the fire began elsewhere.
Keep the file complete before you need it: certificates, micron readings, photographs, accreditation evidence and a closed-out recommendations log, all in date order.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
We document every clean to the standard a loss adjuster tests against. Book a certified TR19 Grease clean and build the trail now.