Upwards of 800 invoices sent out each year
THE public has been put on alert about the importance of including provision for fire brigade charges in their insurance policies. The warning comes from the Limerick County Fire & Rescue Service.
The local authority says it issues approximately 800 fire service invoices per annum for attendance of the fire brigade at incidents such as road traffic accidents, house fires, hay barn fires and
commercial fires.
“In many cases people are unaware that the fire brigade charges may be covered on their insurance policies including motor, home and farm policies,” explained Gerry Behan, Director of Services, Limerick County Council.
He continued: “We would recommend that the public amend their policies to include for this eventuality if it is not already in place.
“When an incident occurs near a county boundary you may have fire brigades from a neighbouring county present at the scene. “Accordingly, the billing process can take some time. You should check with your insurance company if the charges can be covered if the invoice arrives after the insurance case is closed”.
He continued: “It is regrettable we have to charge for these incidents but we would not be able to fund this or many other desirable services properly without these charges.
“Fire charges do not in any way cover the cost of running the fire service. In County Limerick, charges annually amount to €350,000, and this represents approximately 5% of the cost of running the fire service which is in excess of €7 million. The charges of Limerick County Council are comparable with other counties”.
Mr. Behan said some confusion exists among members of the public in relation to the procedures involved with fire service call-outs.
Carmel Kirby, chief fire officer explained: “In the context of the number of appliances mobilised to incidents this is determined by the number of personnel, equipment and personnel required at incidents both to deal with the incident and to ensure fire fighter safety and to comply with our health and safety obligations. “For example, the fire service must provide a minimum of two fire appliances when working on or near an active roadway to provide a safe working area to protect the people from passing vehicles.
“Two fire appliances are also required for all structural fires. Depending on the situation it may also be necessary to provide more fire appliances than this to protect fire crews at incidents. The fire service is also often requested by the Garda Síochána and the HSE to remain at road traffic accidents to help them maintain a safe place of work.
“An invoice is issued to the person who has received the benefit of the service, and liability for the charge is not dependant on whether the person called the fire service. If there are cases of genuine hardship and inability to pay the fire charges, each case is looked at and a partial waiver or easy payment options may be provided. Limerick County Council never charges for their service in the case of a fatality,” she concluded.
