How a Fire Safety Inspection Report Can Affect Your Fire Insurance Claim in Vietnam

TIS Vietnam Insurance Broker | Series: What businesses should know about insurance | Published: [11 November 2026]

A fire safety inspection by the police in Vietnam often ends with a list of items to put right. Some can be fixed within days. Others have to wait for parts, a contractor or a window in the production schedule.

If a fire breaks out while those items are still open, the insurer will want answers when you make your fire insurance claim. When was the problem first flagged? Has it been fixed? Did it start the fire, or make the damage worse?

Questions like these can slow a claim down, reduce the amount paid and, where the grounds are strong enough, lead to a claim being declined. But a deficiency in an inspection report does not mean you automatically lose your cover.

1. Why does the insurer ask for your inspection report after a fire?

An inspection report records the condition of the premises, what has to be corrected and by when. After a fire, it shows which problems were already there before the loss.

Under Clause 3, Article 29 of Decree 67/2023/ND-CP, the most recent inspection report from the competent police authority before the loss is a required document for a compulsory fire and explosion insurance claim.

2. Where a fire insurance claim can get difficult

Items flagged repeatedly but never fixed

An inspection report orders an unsafe electrical system to be repaired. By the next inspection, the work still isn’t finished. If the fire starts in that area, you may have to explain when you knew about the problem, why the repair was delayed and what you did in the meantime.

A problem that has been flagged more than once makes that explanation harder. Even so, signing the report or missing a repair deadline does not, on its own, prove a deliberate breach, or that the breach caused the fire.

Repairs made, but no proof they were finished before the fire

Your maintenance team says the repair was done, but the file holds only a purchase order or an equipment invoice. Neither proves the equipment was installed and working before the loss.

With the site damaged, you may have to track down the contractor, the handover record, test results or operating logs to prove it.

Completed work needs evidence of what was done, when it was finished and how it was checked. A missing photograph won’t automatically cost you your cover, but missing records can drag the claim out.

The report, the plant and the policy describe different things

The company name, address, floor area or use of the premises in the report may not match the policy. A new extension, a rented warehouse or a storage area converted to production may never have been added to the policy.

After a fire, it has to be settled whether the damaged area and assets are insured, and what condition was disclosed and accepted.

A mismatch can turn the dispute into one about whether the property is covered at all, although it does not automatically mean the claim is declined.

You sent the report to the insurer, but the claim is still contested

Say a report notes that part of the fire protection system is out of service. You send it to your insurer and the policy is then issued, so you assume the insurer has accepted the situation.

If a fire occurs before the repair is made, both sides may have to establish what the insurer actually received, whether it set a deadline for the fix and how that requirement appears in the contract.

The problem is that you believed the issue was accepted, while the cover that applies to it was never spelled out. Digging out old emails, survey reports and correspondence after a loss is a recipe for delay.

So when you send an inspection report with open items, ask the insurer to confirm in writing what still has to be done and what cover applies while the work is under way. Sending the report, or being issued the policy, does not automatically cancel the conditions, exclusions or deductibles that apply.

Repeated rounds of document requests while you need cash to recover

An unclear point can lead to requests for more technical records, repair documents and evidence of what caused the fire. You are dealing with the aftermath of the fire and hunting for paperwork at the same time.

Meanwhile, rent, wages and recovery costs keep coming. The real risk is when the payment arrives, and whether you can keep operating until it does.

Ask the insurer to list exactly which documents are missing, why each is needed and what has already been agreed. That avoids going over the same ground twice.

3. When can a claim be reduced or declined?

The 20% deduction is not a blanket penalty for any fire safety breach.

Not acting on recommendations, so the loss gets bigger

Under Clause 3, Article 28 of Decree 67/2023/ND-CP, a deduction of up to 20% applies where the insured fails to carry out, fully and on time, the recommendations in the competent police authority’s report, and that failure makes the loss from the fire or explosion greater. It does not apply automatically to every shortcoming.

Deliberately breaching fire safety rules and directly causing the fire

Point h, Clause 2, Article 25 of Decree 67/2023/ND-CP excludes loss caused by a deliberate breach of fire safety rules where the breach directly causes the fire or explosion. Where the grounds are sufficient, excluded loss may not be paid.

Both the deliberate breach and its link to the cause of the fire must be shown. Deliberately breaching a rule is not the same as intending to start a fire, and a late repair does not automatically trigger the exclusion.

Deliberately giving incomplete or false information when buying cover

Under Clause 2, Article 22 of the Law on Insurance Business, the insurer may cancel the contract and refuse a claim if the policyholder deliberately gave incomplete or false information in order to obtain the contract and a payout. All the conditions must be met; not every error in a file counts.

Where a contract combines compulsory fire and explosion cover with voluntary property cover, the conditions of each part need to be checked separately. Under Articles 19 and 20 of the Law, exclusions must be clearly set out and explained, and a refusal to pay must be justified in writing.

4. After an inspection, what should you do?

• Check the report: confirm the name of the premises, location, area, open items and deadlines. If anything is wrong, raise it early with the inspecting authority.
• Follow up until each item is closed: name a person responsible, put fire risks, escape routes and firefighting capability first, and keep to the deadlines.
• Keep proof of every fix: maintenance records, photographs, handover or test certificates, or a completion sign-off suited to the item. A purchase order is not proof the work is done.
• Manage what is still open: record the obstacles and any interim safety measures, and work with the authority. Reporting progress does not mean you have been granted an extension.
• Review your contract: check what you must notify the insurer of, such as a change of use, an extension or a fire protection system taken out of service, and get the cover that applies during repairs confirmed in writing.

Under Article 55 of the Law on Insurance Business, if the safety measures an insurer requires are not in place by its deadline, it may raise the premium or end the contract. Under Clause 2, Article 27, claims for losses that happened before termination are still considered under the contract.

Read more: Mid-term changes in risk — has your business notified the insurer?

3 questions for businesses

1. Which items in your latest inspection report are still open, and could they start a fire or make a loss worse?
2. For repairs already made, can you show when they were finished and how they were checked, before any loss?
3. Do the report, the premises and your policy describe the same thing, and have you agreed with the insurer what cover applies while repairs are outstanding?

Fixing fire safety findings protects your plant; keeping complete records proves the work was done when you claim. Looking for paperwork, or the person responsible, only after a fire makes your position harder.

The TIS team can help you check your inspection reports against your policy terms, review your repair records and clear up any point that could affect your fire insurance claim.

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