How to reduce costly insurance payouts due to fire damage

There are more than 270,000 home fires every year in the EU, with nearly half starting in the kitchen.

For insurers, fire incidents are among the most costly and complex claims to handle, often resulting in prolonged processing times and reduced customer satisfaction.

For policyholders, fire damage can be even more devastating. Beyond material loss, fires often carry a profound emotional impact when homes and personal belongings are destroyed.

Yet, many fire-related losses can be prevented. By implementing connected smoke and heat detection technology, insurers can strengthen their risk mitigation strategies, limit the scale of damage, and reduce the overall claim costs.

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Early detection makes the difference

When it comes to fire, every second counts. A small ignition can escalate within minutes, causing severe structural damage and putting lives at risk.

Connected smoke and heat alarms provide continuous monitoring and immediate alerts when unusual smoke or temperature levels are detected. Installed in high-risk areas such as kitchens, utility rooms, and near heat-producing devices, they enable rapid action before a situation becomes critical.

In advanced setups these alarms connect directly to home systems or monitoring centers, ensuring automatic emergency notifications and activating predefined safety protocols.

For insurers, the advantages are clear: Early detection reduces claim frequency and severity, lowers payouts, and helps strengthen trust and performance.

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Enabling a proactive insurance model

Traditional insurance models are reactive – responding only after a fire occurs. Connected technology enables a proactive approach, helping insurers prevent losses before they happen.

Insurers that integrate fire detection into their customer offerings are seeing tangible results. Early alerts, faster response times, and reduced damage severity all contribute to a more sustainable claims portfolio and improved customer experience.

Beyond mitigating loss, connected fire prevention solutions provide insurers with valuable new advantages, including:

• Real-time data for smarter risk assessment and portfolio management
• Stronger customer relationships through digital engagement and ongoing value
• Enhanced brand positioning as a proactive safety-driven insurer

By helping customers prevent incidents instead of only covering them, insurers can strengthen loyalty, improve profitability, and build long-term resilience in their portfolios.

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How Onics helps insurers move from claims to prevention

Onics enables insurers to take the next step toward intelligent, connected risk prevention. The Onics platform brings together proven IoT devices – including the Intelligent Smoke Alarm, Intelligent Heat Alarm, and Smart Siren – with a scalable software and data infrastructure designed for insurance applications.

Through this integrated ecosystem, insurers can:

• Launch a branded, ready-to-use fire detection solution withour new development investment
• Reduce fire-related claims by enabling faster  detection and response
• Access detailed sensor insights to refine  underwriting and risk modeling
• Expand their offerings with additional prevention  solutions, including water and burglary detection
• Start small and scale seamlessly as adoption grows

Onics works as a long-term partner for insurers who aim to move beyond claims compensation and deliver real risk prevention — protecting both their customers and their combined ratio.

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Get a demo of the risk prevention solution

Onics’ technology is already helping leading insurers reduce claims costs and minimize risk exposure.  

By providing all parts of the end-to-end solution, we enable a smoother path from detection to damage prevention.

Ready to experience the future of risk mitigation?

Book a demo with our insurtech experts.