Fire and natural-perils cover is the backbone of home insurance: every package is built on it, and this is the layer that protects you against the rare but truly major losses – a house fire, an explosion. That's exactly why it pays to be most careful about the sum insured here: with frequent small claims, an inaccuracy is an annoyance, but with a major fire, every shortfall gets magnified.
- Typical natural perils are: fire, explosion, lightning strike, storm, hail, snow load, cloudburst, landslip – your policy wording gives the exact list.
- Lightning strikes come in two forms: direct strike and electronics damage caused by power surge (induction) – the latter is a separate cover in many policies.
- It's with a major claim that the real sum insured really matters: an underinsured building can trigger a proportional settlement – the fix is a realistic value plus indexation.
What counts as a natural peril?
Policy terms typically group fire and natural damage together in one bundle: fire, explosion, lightning strike, storm, hail, snow load, cloudburst, landslip, rockfall and land subsidence, the collapse of an unspecified structure, collision by a third-party vehicle. The list differs slightly between policies, and the definitions can vary too – for instance, what counts as fire (burning with flame) versus what's "merely" scorching. Storm and hail get their own article: storm and hail damage; earthquake and flood don't belong here at all – they fall under special risks, with their own rules.
Lightning: direct and secondary
Lightning does harm in two ways. A direct strike – a damaged roof, chimney, or a fire – is the classic natural-perils claim, and cover typically pays for this as standard. The more common case, though, is the secondary effect: a strike nearby induces a power surge in the network, and the TV, router, or boiler control unit is destroyed. This surge-induced damage is a separate add-on or a limited cover with many policies – worth asking about before you sign, because the number of such claims is growing as electronic devices become more widespread.
Rare but severe: this is where the sum-insured question is decided
Fire and natural-perils claims are rarer than water damage – but when they happen, they're severe. In a serious fire, the building's sum insured is what's at stake: if it's below the real rebuilding cost, the insurer can apply a proportional settlement – for a house insured at half its real value, even half the claim can end up being the family's own loss. The fix isn't complicated: a realistic sum when you sign, accepting indexation at renewal, and updating the sum separately after any major renovation or extension.
Smoke, soot and firefighting water: the accompanying damage
In a fire, the flame itself is rarely what takes the biggest toll: smoke and soot damage, plus firefighting water damage, often affect a larger area than the burning itself. Policies typically pay for these as accompanying damage to the insured event – but it's worth checking exactly how your own policy words this. If damage occurs, the usual order applies: safety first, then report it via the insurer's claims line or online portal, with photos – and, as far as safety allows, it's worth waiting for the loss adjustment before clearing away debris. For the full map of covers, see what it covers and what not; for a quote, there's the online calculator (in Hungarian).
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