On a winter evening, as you sit by the stove, you hear a strange rumbling from the wall, sparks fly out of the chimney, and in the loft the chimney stack is hot: a chimney fire. The firefighters put it out, the damage – a burnt-out liner, a cracked chimney stack, a smoke-blackened loft, a ceiling soaked by firefighting water – goes to the insurer, and among the claims adjuster's first questions is this one: when did a chimney sweep last come? As a broker, I see that this question is awkward in many detached houses, because chimney sweeping has not been done for years – not out of carelessness, but because since 2018 the routine inspection no longer happens automatically: the owner has to request an appointment, and this step is easily missed. With the spread of fireplaces and mixed-fuel heating, chimney fires and the disputes that arise around them are also becoming more common. This article shows where the line lies between damage that can be rejected and damage that has to be paid, and what the insurer has to prove.
- A chimney fire is typically an insured event under fire cover; a missed chimney sweep is not in itself an exclusion but a question of the duty to prevent damage, which is governed jointly by the Hungarian Civil Code (Ptk.) and the policy conditions.
- The insurer can be released from paying only if it proves that the damage was caused by the insured person's intentional or grossly negligent omission – in other words, it is the insurer that has to prove the connection between the missed inspection and the fire, not you who has to prove the opposite.
- Chimney sweeping for households has been free of charge since the second half of 2016, and for detached houses the owner has had to request an appointment since 2018: according to the disaster management authority (katasztrófavédelem), the routine inspection frequency set by decree – yearly for solid fuel, every two years for gas – is recommended, not compulsory, for detached houses; in a claim, the chimney sweep's certificate is the simplest evidence.
What counts as a chimney fire, and what does fire cover pay for?
A chimney fire is the ignition of soot and tar deposited on the inner wall of the chimney: the fire burns not in the firebox of the stove or boiler but in the flue, where it should not. Home insurance policy conditions typically define fire as combustion that starts outside a designated firebox or leaves it, and is capable of spreading – a chimney fire usually fits this definition, which is why Hungarian policy conditions typically treat it under fire cover. Beyond the direct fire damage, the cover also extends to the consequences: smoke and soot contamination, water damage caused by firefighting water, demolition work made necessary by the firefighters' intervention – the article on fire and natural perils cover deals with these in detail. On one point practice differs from insurer to insurer: if the fire stayed inside the chimney and destroyed only the chimney itself – the liner, the chimney stack –, some policy conditions treat this as wear and tear of the chimney, others as fire damage; it is worth reading the definition of “fire” in your own policy conditions and the exclusions relating to the chimney. And what is typically not an insured event under any policy conditions: the gradual deterioration of the chimney, tar build-up, cracking without fire – that is maintenance, not damage.
Damage prevention in the policy conditions: what does the insurer expect regarding the chimney?
Under the Hungarian Civil Code (Ptk.) and the policy conditions, the insured person is obliged to act in the manner generally expected in the given situation to prevent damage, and the policy conditions spell this out specifically for the chimney: Hungarian contracts typically require the periodic inspection and maintenance of heating appliances and flues as prescribed by law, and a chimney sweep's inspection when a new fireplace or boiler is connected. What “as prescribed by law” means is set out by the chimney-sweeping rules, and this is where many owners get it wrong. According to the chimney-sweeping information of the disaster management authority (katasztrófavédelem), chimney sweeping for households has been free of charge since the second half of 2016, regardless of the service provider (provided no business organisation has its registered seat or business site registered at the property), but since 1 January 2018 the routine inspection has followed a schedule only in condominiums and housing cooperative properties; for single-dwelling properties – detached houses – the inspection is carried out at the owner's request, at a time that suits them. The frequency of the chimney sweep's routine inspection is set by Section 3 of BM Decree 21/2016. (VI. 9.) (a decree of the Ministry of the Interior): as a general rule – including the flues of solid-fuel appliances – once a year, every two years for the chimneys of appliances running on gaseous fuel or with a sealed combustion chamber, and a technical inspection of the entire flue route every four years; for detached houses this is carried out when the owner orders it, and the disaster management authority recommends the same frequency. An appointment can be requested via the online form or by calling 1818. If you heat a detached house with wood and have not called a chimney sweep for years, you have skipped a free inspection that is not compulsory by law but is recommended yearly by the disaster management authority – the claims adjuster, however, holds you not to the chimney-sweeping legislation but to the damage prevention requirement in the policy conditions and the generally expected level of care, and there an inspection missed for years can be a serious argument against you.
Exclusion or exemption? The difference decides the case
A missed chimney sweep is not an exclusion. An exclusion means that an event is not an insured event in the first place – wear and tear of the chimney is one example –, and there fault is not what is examined: the insurer has to show that the damage falls within the excluded scope, not that you were grossly negligent. A missed inspection, by contrast, is a breach of the duty to prevent damage, the consequence of which may be exemption: under Section 6:464 of the Ptk., the insurer is released from paying if it proves that the damage was caused unlawfully, intentionally or through gross negligence by the policyholder or the insured person – or by a relative living in the same household with them –, and the same standard must be applied to a breach of the duty to prevent and mitigate damage. Two things follow from this. First: the burden of proof is on the insurer – it has to prove that the missed inspection was a grossly negligent omission and that this caused the fire; you do not have to prove that the chimney sweep would not have found anything either. Second: the causal link between the omission and the fire is not automatic. If, according to the fire investigation, the fire was caused by a structural defect in the chimney, a faulty connection or damp, tar-forming fuel – something the annual inspection would have caught –, the insurer's argument is strong; if the chimney had previously been found to be in order and the fire started for another reason, the missed appointment alone is not enough for exemption. Where the line of gross negligence lies – when something is inattention and when it is a conscious acceptance of risk – is discussed in the article on the candle left burning; with a chimney, the strongest counter-argument against you is if the chimney sweep had previously prohibited or objected to its use in writing and the chimney was used nonetheless. In that case exemption is likely, and it is worth facing this honestly.
What does the insurer ask for in a claim, and what if there is no certificate?
In the case of a chimney fire, the claims adjuster typically asks for three documents: the official fire incident certificate issued by the disaster management authority or the findings of the fire investigation, the most recent chimney sweep's certificate, and the quotation for the repair together with photos. The certificate is the simplest evidence that you have complied with the duty to prevent damage – which is why it is worth keeping it with your insurance documents. If you do not have one, that does not end the claim: the insurer's expert examines the condition of the chimney on site, the fire investigation report records the cause of the fire, and it is often precisely this that decides whether there was a connection with the omission. You do not have to wait passively either: earlier certificates, the invoice for relining or renovating the chimney, the chimney sweep's statement issued when the new heating appliance was connected, and a description of the fuel used and your heating habits are all arguments on your side. Report the claim on the insurer's claims line without delay – under Section 6:453 of the Ptk., delay has legal consequences if, as a result, a material circumstance can no longer be established, and with a burnt-out chimney, its condition before demolition is such a circumstance. If the insurer rejects the claim on the grounds of exemption, the order is: a written complaint to the insurer, then, as a consumer, the Financial Arbitration Board (PBT) or the courts – the MNB (Hungary's central bank and financial supervisor) does not decide individual claim disputes; the article on the order of legal remedies describes the steps. The article on common reasons for rejection also presents lack of maintenance in a wider context.
What should you do now?
If you heat with wood, coal or mixed fuel and cannot remember when a chimney sweep last came, request an appointment – via the online form or on 1818 – and keep the certificate with your policy. With a gas boiler, it is worth requesting the same every two years, together with the complete technical inspection every four years. Before connecting a new fireplace or boiler, ask for a chimney sweep's inspection, because an appliance connected to an unsuitable chimney is a typical ground for exemption. Burn dry wood that has been stored for at least one or two years, and do not burn waste: tar is what fuels a chimney fire. If a chimney fire does break out, call 112, do not pour water into the chimney, and after the firefighters have left, photograph everything before any demolition. The article on damage prevention brings together the other damage prevention routines for the home. If the claim gets stuck or becomes disputed, I help where I can.
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Sources
- BM OKF (National Directorate General for Disaster Management) Chimney Sweeping Organisation – Frequently asked questions (free of charge from the second half of 2016, appointments requested by the owner for detached houses from 1 January 2018, inspection frequency, booking an appointment)
- BM Decree 21/2016. (VI. 9.) on the professional rules for carrying out chimney-sweeping activities – Section 3 (frequency of routine inspections: yearly, every two years for gas-fired or sealed-combustion appliances, technical inspection every four years), Section 8 (routine inspection carried out when ordered), Section 10 (certificate)
- Act CCXI of 2015 on chimney-sweeping activities
- Hungarian Civil Code (Ptk.) Sections 6:453 (notification of a claim), 6:464 (exemption of the insurer, breach of the duty to prevent damage) – Act V of 2013
- MABISZ (the Hungarian insurers' association) Home Insurance Guide (20 February 2025) – fire damage, duty to prevent damage, exemption
- Financial Arbitration Board (PBT, MNB)
