What Krantz & Polak does in smoke and soot damage claims
With virtually every fire — even a small one — smoke and soot damage occurs. Often that is in fact the largest part of the damage: the fire itself remained confined to one room, but smoke spread through the entire house. A wall that only seems “dirty” turns out, after testing, to be saturated with acidic soot components. A wardrobe of clothing still smells of burning after a wash.
Our role is to record the full extent of the damage — including what you cannot yet see or smell — and to substantiate the right approach to restoration.
Damage assessment in layers
We map the soot load by room and by material. Visible surfaces are the outermost layer; far more sits beneath.
- Textiles: curtains, floor coverings, bedding, clothing. We assess what can be cleaned and what cannot — not every wash succeeds, and with high-end fabrics repeated washing is often more damaging than replacement.
- Wood and furniture: furniture absorbs soot in porous surfaces and in hinge cavities. Restoration is possible, but by no means always with preservation of value.
- Art, antiques and books: specialist assessment is crucial here. A canvas with smoke damage can be made presentable again by restoration, but the market value falls irrecoverably. Antique furniture with burnt finishes calls for a separate valuation.
- Electronics: soot contains corrosive substances. Equipment that works now can fail in months to a year. A damage assessment that does not include electronics falls short.
- Wall and ceiling finishes, insulation, service shafts: soot penetrates plasterboard, insulation and cavities. A coat of paint is then cosmetic — not structural.
Health and habitability
Soot is not an innocent black deposit. When modern materials burn — plastics, lacquers, insulation — polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other reactive substances are released which adhere to surfaces. These can irritate airways, skin and eyes, and in vulnerable occupants (children, the elderly, people with respiratory problems) can give rise to health complaints.
Where the soot load is high, habitability becomes a separate matter in the file. Temporary accommodation during decontamination is often — and rightly — part of the settlement, provided your policy covers it.
Cleaning versus replacement
Insurers initially prefer cleaning, because it is cheaper. Often this is justified: smooth surfaces clean very well. But for porous material, for high-end textiles or leather, and for valuable contents, cleaning is rarely a full return to the condition before the fire.
We assess for each category what is reasonable within your policy — repair or replacement — and substantiate our choice with external specialists where that helps: furniture restorers, textile specialists, valuers.
Consequential damage and ongoing developments
Smoke and soot damage evolves. An odour that now, a week after the fire, seems bearable can return two months later from wall or floor insulation. Electronics that work now can fail six months later. Our damage assessment takes this development into account — and we ensure that any later claims do not founder on “you assessed it at the time”.
Guidance through to settlement
Until the final amount has been paid out and — where decontamination was required — until your home or premises is demonstrably safe to occupy again. Including assessment of decontamination quotations, scrutiny of the reasonableness of any deductions, and objection to solutions that look cosmetic but do not solve the problem.
Common points of dispute
- “It can be cleaned”: often superficially, not always durably. Different materials call for material-specific judgement.
- Odour as a problem: a persistent smoke odour is damage, not an inconvenience. It ought to be part of the settlement.
- Electronics that “still work”: corrosion develops. Assessment at the time of the loss is sensible, rather than waiting for failure.
- Temporary accommodation: often justified where the soot load is high; check whether your policy covers it.
- Art and antiques: market value depreciation alongside restoration costs — a separate item in the loss.