Would standard home insurance cover damage to memory loss?

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Damage DUE to memory loss!

If, someone forgot to turn off a gas hob, which then went on to ignite/explode etc

Would damages from this be covered in a standard home insurance policy

Edited by footnote on Thursday 19th January 08:08

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Thanks all.

If it helps, for clarity, it's to do with an elderly person who is not diagnosed with any formal illness such as dementia or memory loss but who nonetheless, might forget to turn things fully on and off.

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We have thought about replacing the hob but she's not supposed to use the existing one anyway and to be honest, we can't afford to put in new hob.

I've removed all the food that she could be tempted to cook on the hob and I'm going to put a box/cover over the knobs so she can't access them.

She mainly uses the microwave and electric oven so really, it's a case of removing the incentive to use the hob and then all should be well!

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saaby93 said:

footnote said:

We have thought about replacing the hob but she's not supposed to use the existing one anyway and to be honest, we can't afford to put in new hob.

How much is too much? £100?

You make it sound like I'm too mean to help a poor old woman out with a new hob to stop her gassing herself and blowing up the street - depriving her of her liberty to boil a pan of water - I must be a right heartless bugger.

She isn't supposed to use the hob anyway because of potential issues with leaving stuff to burn - like chip pans.

The potential for leaving the hob going with the gas unlit is a new 'possibility'.

We haven't got £100 to spend on that - if that's what it costs.

And in any case preventing her from blowing the street up would not prevent her from burning the house down.

The simplest and cheapest solution I can come up with is to prevent access to the hob controls.

I'm open to better ideas.

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saaby93 said:

footnote said:

You make it sound like I'm too mean to help a poor old woman out with a new hob to stop her gassing herself and blowing up the street - depriving her of her liberty to boil a pan of water - I must be a right heartless bugger.

Sorry

Me too - it's a draining situation that's been going on for years, marking the gradual decline of a human mind, and it will of course, go on for years more, unless she blows the house up!

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KevinCamaroSS said:

Is her hob ancient? Most relatively new ones shut off the gas if not ignited. Just turn off the gas at the hob if it is a worry.

It's probably 10-15 years old. Is there usually a stopcock or cut-out under the unit?

Am I legally allowed to do that or would it have to be a GasSafe person - I don't want to invalidate her insurance cover either

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TooMany2cvs said:

footnote said:

We have thought about replacing the hob but she's not supposed to use the existing one anyway and to be honest, we can't afford to put in new hob.

I've removed all the food that she could be tempted to cook on the hob and I'm going to put a box/cover over the knobs so she can't access them.

She mainly uses the microwave and electric oven so really, it's a case of removing the incentive to use the hob and then all should be well!

Can't you just turn the gas to it off?

And try to get a diagnosis! It opens up a whole world of help.

She's a bit like Tony (Baldrick) Robinson's dad. He was on the radio a few weeks ago talking about his dad's Alzheimer's and how every time he took his dad to the doctor the dad would be fine and totally 'with it'. I think they're able to build up a head of steam on special occasions.

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TwigtheWonderkid said:

Friend of mine took her mum to the doctor to get him to sign off on the fact that her Alzheimer's was so bad that she could no longer live alone and needed to be in some kind of home/assisted living facility.

So the doctor assesses her and asks her who the prime minister is. She couldn't recall. Then asked her the queen's name...she struggled but got there with some prompting and clues. Then the day of the week...not even close.

So he agrees that she needed special help and started to write his report. And, to make conversation, he asks her if there was any time of home or facility she would prefer? And she replies...."I'd quite like to go somewhere where they put on quizzes."

Classic!

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Sheepshanks said:

footnote said:

Thanks all.
If it helps, for clarity, it's to do with an elderly person who is not diagnosed with any formal illness such as dementia or memory loss but who nonetheless, might forget to turn things fully on and off.

I think you could be in some difficulty with insurance if it becomes clear that you knew leaving the hob on was a possibility and you didn't take action to prevent that.


I feel a moral responsibility but in any legal sense I don't think the circumstances are any different from all the people who are aware of young or elderly folk who drive even when others consider them dangerous.

I wouldn't be the beneficiary of any insurance policy.
It's her hob, her house and her insurance.
She's not legally incapicitated.
She's not a ward of court or subject to any formal care arrangement.

In short, she's as free as a bird and entitled to live her life as freely as you or I live ours.

I care what happens but I have no rights to exert control over her simply because she's old or forgetful. She could as easily argue that the events I describe are one-offs.