Are you eligible for a free smoke alarm?

This entry was posted in General February 14, 2020

In the UK there are roughly 37,000 house fires a year and approximately 200 fire-related deaths. The majority of these occur within the home between 10pm and 6am when people are asleep. When you are asleep your sense of smell decreases to almost non-existent. Older people may be particularly at risk from fire due to health problems or reduced mobility. Approximately half of those killed by fires in the home are aged 65 or over.

Smoke alarms give you advance warning of fire, which results in giving you more time to react. With a working smoke alarm you are 4 times more likely to survive. This shows the importance of having a working smoke alarm in your home.

Many local fire services in the UK offer free smoke alarms, generally as part of a home visit to assess fire safety in your property. The eligibility criteria can differ between fire services, as some offer it to people who don't have them or if they have been installed in the wrong places. Whilst other fire services focus on those at higher risk of fire such as the homes of older or disabled people.

To check whether or not you are eligible to get a free smoke alarm installed in your home, you will need to request a ‘Safe and Well Visit’ with your local fire service either by phone or an online form that can be found on the website of your local fire service. If eligible, the visit is free of charge and you should expect it to take up to an hour. If they find that you need to have fire alarms installed, they may do it for free during their visit.

At Ableworld we genuinely care about the safety and well-being of our customers and always have their best interests at heart. We hope you find this information useful to help protect your home or the home of a loved one.

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