Category: Climate perils · Reviewed by Taylor Watts, Broker · New Business · Last reviewed 2026-06-10
Wildfire is an emerging UK property insurance peril, traditionally covered under the general fire peril of household and commercial property policies but increasingly relevant on the rural-urban interface as climate change drives hotter, drier summers and more frequent grass, heath and moorland fires.
Category: Climate perils Also known as: Wildfire cover, Grass and heath fire insurance, Vegetation fire insurance Typical UK market form: Subsumed within the standard fire peril of property all-risks; specialist endorsements for rural and infrastructure risks Related concepts: Property insurance, Business interruption insurance, Heatwave business interruption insurance
Wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that burns vegetation — typically grass, heather, gorse, peat, forestry plantation or scrub — and which may threaten buildings, infrastructure, livestock and human life. In a UK context, wildfire is most commonly associated with the spring and summer months and with sensitive peatland, moorland and heathland habitats. Notable UK wildfire complexes have occurred on Saddleworth Moor (June 2018), Marsden Moor (Yorkshire, repeatedly), Wennington (East London, 19 July 2022) and across multiple sites during the July 2022 heatwave.
Unlike fluvial and pluvial flood, which are well-mapped through statutory hazard mapping, UK wildfire hazard is not currently the subject of a single national risk assessment dataset. Met Office Fire Severity Index (MOFSI) data, Natural England SSSI condition reports and Forestry Commission incident data provide the principal published evidence base.
The Met Office State of the UK Climate report (Kendon et al, 2024) confirms a continuing trend of hotter, drier summers consistent with UK Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18). The 19 July 2022 record of 40.3°C at Coningsby weather station — the first occasion that 40°C had been exceeded at any UK weather station — coincided with one of the most active wildfire days on record for the London Fire Brigade and led to the destruction of approximately 16 properties at Wennington in the London Borough of Havering. The London Fire Brigade subsequently reported that 19 July 2022 was its busiest day since the Second World War.
UKCP18 projects an increase in extreme heat days and consecutive dry-day spells under all plausible pathways, with a corresponding upward trajectory in fire weather conditions. Recent research from the Met Office Hadley Centre and the University of Reading using UKCP18 outputs indicates that the area of the United Kingdom at significant wildfire weather risk will materially expand by mid-century, with the largest absolute increases in the south and east of England.
UK household buildings and contents policies and commercial property all-risks (PAR) wordings cover damage by fire as a foundational insured peril, regardless of whether the fire originates from a domestic source, an industrial cause or an external wildfire. Cover extends to physical damage to insured property, contents and stock, together with business interruption loss under a separate section, subject to the relevant maximum indemnity period and gross profit basis.
Exclusions and limitations relevant to wildfire include: damage by smoke alone without physical fire damage may be limited or sub-limited; debris removal and decontamination of contaminated land may be sub-limited; and damage to property in the open (for example timber stacks, hay bales, vehicles) may be subject to specific sub-limits. Commercial estate owners and forestry operators may purchase specialist standing timber and crop insurance separately, and rural infrastructure operators (water companies, telecoms, electricity distribution network operators) may purchase bespoke endorsements addressing wildfire damage to overhead assets and access infrastructure.
A small but growing segment of the UK commercial market is served by parametric wildfire products, which pay a pre-agreed sum on the occurrence of a measurable trigger — for example a measured burn area exceeding a defined hectare threshold within a stated polygon, derived from satellite hotspot data such as MODIS or VIIRS.
There is no statutory wildfire insurance scheme analogous to Flood Re. Wildfire response is governed by the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (in respect of category 1 and 2 responder duties), and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (in respect of damage to protected sites). The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/158) restrict controlled burning on protected peat soils. Forestry operations are governed by the Forestry Act 1967 and the relevant devolved equivalents.
The market response to increasing wildfire frequency has so far been measured: insurers have not, in general, introduced specific wildfire excesses on UK property policies, but have begun to incorporate fire-weather scenarios into accumulation modelling and have applied more conservative excess and sub-limit treatment for rural infrastructure and forestry exposures. Reinsurers, particularly those operating across European wildfire markets, are increasingly modelling UK wildfire as a discrete peril.
Businesses with rural or urban-fringe exposure — including data centres, telecoms exchanges, electricity distribution assets, water treatment works and standalone industrial sites — should consider their wildfire exposure as part of their property risk management strategy. Vegetation management, defensible space around critical assets, water supply for firefighting and on-site evacuation planning are increasingly relevant. Brokers should record vegetation management practices and access for fire and rescue services as part of underwriting submissions for relevant locations.
For larger commercial portfolios, parametric layers addressing the business interruption tail of a wildfire event — particularly site access disruption, power supply interruption and supply chain disruption — may provide cost-effective complementary cover to indemnity wordings.
On 19 July 2022, the same day that Coningsby recorded 40.3°C, the London Fire Brigade attended a major wildfire at Wennington in the London Borough of Havering. Several houses and outbuildings were destroyed and significant grassland burnt. The event was widely cited as the first major urban-interface wildfire in modern UK history and prompted the Greater London Authority and London Fire Brigade to publish updated wildfire response guidance.
This entry is part of the Apex Insurance Wiki. Last reviewed by Matt Bartlett on 2026-06-10. Next review: 2026-12-10.
Apex Insurance Brokers Limited. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 724952. Registered in England and Wales, Companies House 07014570. This entry provides general information about UK insurance concepts and is not regulated advice. Consult your insurance broker on your specific position.
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