Fire insurance provides insurance against any loss or damage of property caused by fire or incidental to fire, lightening, explosion, etc. Fire insurance is not governed by any specific law in India unlike marine insurance. So, fire insurance is regulated by the Insurance Act, 1938, the general Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1872, law of contract and judicial decisions. All India Fire Tariff (effective from 31.3.2001) issued by Tariff Advisory Committee governs Fire Insurance. It is a commercial insurance policy which covers building, offices, machinery, contents and personal belongings of the office with an objective to minimize the risk of loss of customers due to fire breakout. Persons who have insurable interest in a property can only insure their property against fire. ‘A person who is so interested in a property as to have benefit from its existence and prejudice from its destruction is said to have insurable interest in that property’.
