Open fires and thatched roofs - tis the season

Cottages with thatched roofs, logs crackling in an open fire – it’s the perfect rural idyll, but common sense dictates that they are an explosive (or at any rate combustible) combination. Who in their right mind is going to insure you if you want to sit in your thatched cottage toasting your feet in front of an open fire?

Many insurance companies will not insure thatched properties at all and others make the premiums so high as to put owners off. Norwich Union, for instance, charges 50% extra for contents cover and a staggering 125% extra for buildings cover. They defend their high premiums by explaining that thatched properties are, on the whole, older and more likely to have defective wiring which may cause a fire.

Help is at hand, however, with the NFU Mutual and the Thatched Owners Group, both providing good value cover. For buildings cover, the Thatched Owners Group seems on the whole to be cheaper but the NFU Mutual wins out on contents cover.

It is important to bear in mind that half of the 55,000 thatched properties in England are listed buildings and therefore the cover has to be adequate to have the property restored properly.

Surprisingly, only 1 in 730 thatched properties suffer fire damage each year compared with 1 in 350 conventional tiled properties. This may be down to the fact that if you live in a thatched property you are likely to be very aware of the risks and take extra precautions. That said, if a thatched property does catch fire, the result is likely to be far more rapid, dramatic and damaging than a blaze in any other type of house.

There are various measures which home owners can take to reduce the likelihood of a fire:

• Have your chimney swept regularly – 90% of thatch fires are caused by dirty chimneys.

• Make sure that the top of your chimney stack is at least five feet above the thatched roof so that if sparks escape they will not cause the roof to ignite.

• Have an insulated lining fitted to the part of the chimney stack which passes through the thatched roof.

• Invest in a thermometer for the flue to ensure that the temperature does not reach dangerous levels.

• Have any electrical wires in the roof space checked regularly and watch out for signs of squirrels or mice who may chew through wiring, causing a fire.

• Make sure workmen never use tools such as blow torches in the roof space.

• If you have a wood burning stove have a steel liner fitted and make sure the contractor doing the work has specialist knowledge of thatched properties.

• Have adequate numbers of smoke detectors and fire extinguishers around the house.

• Talk to a qualified thatcher or fire officer for further advice.

It is not of course just fires within the property which can be hazardous to a thatch and care should be taken when lighting a garden fire. Factors such as wind direction and speed should be taken into account and if everything is very dry, you should consider dampening your thatch as well as having a hosepipe which will reach your roof, to limit damage if a fire does start.

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