After a Commercial Kitchen Fire: What to Do in the First Week
The documents the loss adjuster will ask for, who to notify, and how to get a Swansea kitchen back into service.
Kitchen fires are not rare on Swansea Bay, and most start in or spread through the extract system. If it has happened to you, this is the order to do things in. None of it is legal advice; it is the practical sequence that makes the insurance claim go smoothly and gets the kitchen open again.
Day one
- Notify your insurer immediately — most policies require notice within days, and late notice is a reason to refuse.
- Do not clean up or dispose of anything until the loss adjuster has visited or agreed you can. The state of the canopy and duct is evidence.
- Get the fire service incident number from the crew or by calling Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service afterwards. The adjuster will want it.
- Photograph everything yourself, including inside the canopy and any duct that is exposed.
What the loss adjuster will ask for
- Your fire risk assessment, and whether it identified the extract system as a hazard.
- The extract cleaning certificates — the last one and the one before, with photographs and the next-service date. This is the question that decides most kitchen-fire claims. If the system was cleaned to TR19 on the right interval, you are in a strong position. If it was not, the policy condition on maintenance is where the argument starts.
- Your filter cleaning routine — any log or checklist.
- Gas and electrical certificates, and the fire alarm and extinguisher service records.
The first week
- Environmental health. Tell Swansea Council (or Neath Port Talbot or Carmarthenshire) if the kitchen is closed; they will want to inspect before you reopen.
- Your landlord, if you lease — see who is responsible for what.
- An independent condition report on the extract system once the adjuster has released it. It tells you what survived, what needs replacing and gives you a written baseline. We arrange inspection and reporting across Swansea Bay.
- Reopening. The extract system must be cleaned or replaced and certificated before the kitchen is used again; the insurer and the EHO will both want to see that.
Afterwards
Put the system on a documented schedule and keep the certificates with the fire risk assessment. The next fire, if there is one, will be judged on that file. We arrange TR19-focused cleaning quotes on the right interval for your kitchen — request a quote.
Related: Insurance records and fire claims · Fire risk assessments and extraction · Why grease fires start in the duct
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my insurer pay out after a kitchen extract fire?
It depends largely on whether you can show the extract system was cleaned to a recognised standard on the right interval. Certificates with photographs and next-service dates are the evidence; without them the maintenance condition in the policy is where claims are challenged.
Can I reopen the kitchen once the fire service has left?
Not until the extract system has been cleaned or replaced and certificated, and usually not until environmental health has visited. Your insurer will want the same before cover continues.
Should I clean up before the loss adjuster comes?
No. Make it safe, photograph everything, and leave the canopy and duct as they are until the adjuster has seen them or told you in writing that you can proceed.
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