POSTMAN SPIES ON YOUR THATCHED ROOF FOR INSURERS

Your postman will soon do more than just deliver your mail to you. Postmen receive instructions tomorrow to inspect national delivery addresses during the delivery routes. The findings will then be passed on to insurers, who will use this information to identify and analyze risks.
Risks for insurer
The insurers are curious about the number and type of dwellings that have thatched roofs. These roofs would be very susceptible to fire damage. A reed roof could also lead to more damage in the event of a fire that breaks out with fire danger.

The postmen will, on behalf of the company Infofolio , check 1.4 million addresses on the roofs. An earlier test has already taken place in Deventer and Breda in collaboration with PostNL on a small scale.

In this way insurers hope to gain more information about the number of houses with a thatched roof and the type of thatched roof. Damage caused by fire is in fact covered by household effects and building insurance. If houses have a roof that is susceptible to fire damage, then insurers can expect high claims.

It is therefore not surprising that the insurers are curious whether the premiums that they charge for the household effects and superintegration insurances are still proportionate to the risks.

Traditional thatched roof
A thatched roof with an open construction is seen as a traditional thatched roof. The reed is bolted to the beams where the roof consists. This is a very light construction that brings optimum ventilation. Unfortunately, this construction is quite flammable.

Even if your roof has been treated with a fire retardant coating, the risk of fire remains much higher than with a screw roof.

If you have a traditional thatched roof, you can therefore count on your insurer asking for a high premium than if you had a tile roof. It may even be the case that an insurer finds your roof too big a risk and does not want to insure your home.

Screw roof
A thatched roof with a closed construction is also called screw roof. Here the reed is screwed onto plates. Unlike a traditional thatched roof, a screw cap does not provide optimum ventilation. But because your home is now better insulated, you can save on your energy bill.

A screw roof is also a lot less fire hazard and therefore also a lot easier to insure.