House Insurance Nsw

Dusty BBQs A Serious Fire Risk, Says Australian Insurer GIO

/EINPresswire.com/ Insurance company GIO is urging people to check their barbeques before firing them up

With people gearing up across the country to celebrate Australia day and start BBQing come rain or shine, Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) and insurer GIO are urging people to check their equipment before firing them up.

Already this year Fire and Rescue has responded to six BBQ fires and numerous cooking fires across Sydney, some of which have resulted in serious injury.

GIO spokesperson Duncan Bone said: "If your BBQ has been sitting under the house or in the garage gathering cobwebs, you need to check that the hose and nozzle is not leaking. Spray it with soapy water - if it bubbles when you turn the nozzle on, it's leaking."

GIO's findings from the Home Fire Safety Audit(*) suggest not only do people need to check their BBQ, but they also need to take a little more care frying those snags, with many home chefs failing to pay full attention to their cooking.

"We found that about half of people who took the audit sometimes leave their cooking unattended, and one in ten do that often - this is very risky behavior," Mr. Bone said.

"All it takes is a second for a fat fire, or a slightly leaky LPG cylinder, and you have a real situation on your hands."

"People think it can't happen to them, but each year we see customers making claims after faulty BBQs or LPG cylinders have caught alight."

The audit also found the vast majority of people were not prepared if a fire did break out at their home or while using a BBQ - only a third (35%) of NSW households have a fire extinguishers (35%), while approximately the same number (33%) have fire blankets.

One of the complicating factors can be the other flammable material -- apart from a potentially leaking LPG cylinder - in other areas of the home, such as: the garage or shed.

Changes to the Home Building Act (NSW) : : The Quinn Group Blog

The following changes are now in effect:

Providing a definition of Completion

Under the Act, there was no definition of completion for the purposes of the ‘date of completion’ for statutory warranty and Home Warranty Insurance time periods.

The Act now provides that residential building work is complete when it is completed in accordance with the requirements of the contract .

If there is no contract or the contract does not specify when the works are complete the works will be complete when they have reached practical completion which is when the work is complete except for any omissions or defects that do not prevent the work from being reasonably capable of being used for its intended purpose. Ten year limit

For Home Warranty Insurance policies issued before 1 July 2010, all claims (including related claims) must be lodged by the consumer within 10 years of the work being completed. This change does not affect the Home Warranty Insurance coverage periods (i.e. 6 years on structural and 2 years on non-structural defects).

Clarifies the definition of developer

The Act will now provide that an owner of land on which residential building work is carried out who owns or will own four or more of the existing or proposed dwellings, is a developer for the purposes of the legislation. Statutory Warranties

The statutory warranty period for residential building works has been reduced from 7 to 6 years. This means that the statutory warranty period is now aligned with the Home Warranty Insurance period so that all warranties will apply for 6 years on structural defects and 2 years on non-structural defects from the date of completion.

Home Warranty Insurance

The threshold for obtaining Home Warranty Insurance will be lifted from $12,000 to $20,000.

Building Contracts

Under the new provisions a less onerous written quote arrangement for small jobs of less than $5,000 will be implemented.

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