Supporting a Business Through a Fire-Related Claim

When a business suffered major disruption after a huge fire at its trading premises, it faced immediate uncertainty about the cause, responsibility for the damage, and how to recover its losses. We have helped put a clear legal strategy in place, secured the right expert input early and guided the client through the practical steps needed to protect its position. Our role was to assist the client in moving from immediate crisis response to a clear and structured legal strategy during the investigation and pre-action work.

Key Actions

• Helped secure and preserve key evidence while expert investigations continued, including coordination around site inspections and further testing.
• Instructed and worked closely with forensic experts at an early stage to investigate the cause of the fire and assess the technical evidence for the claim.
• Put potential defendants on notice at an early stage to protect the client’s position while liability investigations progressed.
• Worked with barristers and experts to assess liability, identified the likely legal route forward, potential causes of action and the most effective strategy for pursuing the claim.
• Helped the client gather the commercial records needed to prove loss and show the steps taken to reduce the impact on the business.
• Considered contractual and evidential issues affecting whether losses could be recovered from those potentially responsible.
• Kept the focus on both legal strength and practical business recovery, including preserving customer relationships and supporting a well-evidenced claim.
• Continued to review the position as further expert evidence, testing and third-party responses became available.

If your business has been affected by a serious incident and you are unsure what to do next, early legal advice can make a significant difference to your claim. The right strategy, backed by expert evidence and practical guidance, can help protect your position, clarify responsibility and improve your chances of a strong recovery.