Chimney Fire Insurance Claims

Your Policy Decides, the Record Helps

We are a chimney company, not an insurer, so we never tell anyone what their policy covers. That answer belongs to your insurance company and the wording of your own policy. What we can say is how claims after a chimney fire usually go, and what makes them go smoothly.

Many homeowners policies treat a sudden fire differently from slow wear. Damage from a chimney fire that happened on a known night tends to be looked at as a fire loss. Cracks from years of neglect, rusted caps and eroded mortar tend to be treated as maintenance. That is why the record matters so much: it shows what happened, when, and what it damaged, and it separates fire damage from old wear.

The Order of Steps

The order you do things in can make a claim easy or hard. This is the order we suggest to owners in Sherman Oaks and across the Valley.

1. Make the house safe. If there is still fire or smoke, get everyone out and call 911. 2. Stop using the fireplace. No test fires, no gas logs, no candles in the firebox. 3. Photograph before anything moves. The hearth with its debris, the firebox, the damper, the face and mantel, the outside of the chimney, the cap from the ground, any roof damage you can see, and any smoke stains inside the house. 4. Keep the fire department paperwork if they came. Note the date and time. 5. Call your insurer and ask whether they want an adjuster to see the chimney before cleaning or inspection. Some do, some do not. 6. Book the Level 2 inspection. If the adjuster wants to be present, we can schedule around them. 7. Get the repair quote in writing, laid out to match the inspection report. 8. Do temporary protection only, such as covering an open crown before rain, and photograph it.

Doing these in that order keeps the evidence intact and keeps you from paying twice for work an adjuster wanted to see first.

What an Adjuster Needs From the Inspection

An adjuster reading a chimney claim wants to connect three things: an event, the damage, and the repair. A good inspection report does that on its own.

The event. The date of the fire and the signs of it: burned creosote, which swells into a puffy honeycomb when it ignites, heat marks on the damper and smoke chamber, a discolored or warped cap.

The damage. Each finding with a photo or video still and the depth in the flue where it sits. Cracked tiles, open mortar joints, broken parging, crown cracks, scorched framing in the attic.

The difference between new and old. A fresh crack in a flue tile looks different from one with years of soot in it. A good report says which is which, so the claim covers what the fire did and nothing gets denied because it was mixed in with wear.

Our Level 2 runs $325 for a Sherman Oaks home. The report opens with a plain answer, safe to use, safe after a named repair, or not safe, then lists each finding in order of risk.

What Decides How Smoothly the Claim Runs

Claims that go well have a few things in common. The photos were taken early. The inspection was done to NFPA 211 Level 2, not a quick look from the firebox. The quote matches the report item for item, so the adjuster can see that each repair answers a finding. And repair work was not started before the insurer had a chance to look.

That last point catches people out. A well-meaning contractor who tears out a damaged liner on day one may leave you with no proof of what it looked like. We keep damaged parts where it makes sense, and we photograph every stage.

If you are not sure where to start, send us your photos through the quote form, say that a claim is involved, and we will tell you which inspection the situation calls for and what the report will include, before the visit.

Smoke Damage Inside the House

A chimney fire sometimes pushes smoke and soot into the room, onto the mantel and face, and into nearby rooms. That part of the claim is usually handled with a cleaning or restoration company. We clean the fireplace itself, firebox, glass, face and hearth, and note any heat marks we find, so they get inspected and not painted over. Photograph the rooms before any cleaning starts.

Wildfire and Quake Claims Work the Same Way

The same steps apply when the event is outside the chimney. After the Palisades and Eaton fires in January 2025, many houses that did not burn still had embers on the roof, heat on the cap and ash down the flue. After a strong earthquake, chimneys crack at the roofline. In each case, photograph early, inspect at Level 2, and quote against the report.

Mistakes to Avoid

• - Lighting a fire to see if the chimney still works.
• Cleaning up the hearth before taking photos.
• Accepting a quote that came before anyone looked inside the flue.
• Letting someone tear out damage before the adjuster has had a chance to see it.
• Mixing upgrades you want, such as a new mantel, into the same line as fire repairs. We list them separately.

The Next Step

If you have had a chimney fire and plan to file a claim, do the photos first, call your insurer second, and book the inspection third. Owners in Sherman Oaks can call us to book a Level 2 on a date that suits the adjuster, and we will send the report and the quote in a form they can read without a second visit.