Incident reports:

The Brigade collects incident information to support our legal, regulatory, and fire safety duties. We make some of this information available externally. 

Most of the time this information is used by insurers and their authorised agents, who need it to assess claims and understand the circumstances of events. As a result, incident reports are provided as a specialist, chargeable service offered for a commercial fee.

We also make limited information available to people who were directly involved or directly affected, where it is lawful and appropriate to do so, this is normally a free Confirmation of Attendance (COA), which is available for every incident we attend.

A COA, contains:

• Confirmation the Brigade attended 
• Time and Date 
• The general nature of the incident

This covers what the vast majority of what people need to give to their insurers, landlords or housing association, and other organisations handling routine claims or enquiries.

Why we create incident information 

During and after an incident, we record information to support the Brigade’s operational response, prevention, protection, and regulatory responsibilities. This includes learning from incidents, improving fire safety across London, and understanding community risk. 

Incident reports contain two broad types of information: 

• Operational activity: such as the appliances mobilised, the tactical approach taken, timings, and details of our response.

• Incident specific‑information: including factors that contributed to the incident, personal information about those involved, and professional assessments such as fire cause, spread, and damage. This information is treated as having been provided in confidence, even when not from or about any persons involved. 

This information is collected for our statutory functions, they do not to determine liability, resolve disputes, or attribute blame. For this reason, we only release detailed information where the law allows and where the requester has a legitimate basis to receive it. 

Who can request an incident report

Insurers, loss adjusters, and their authorised agents 

Insurers are the primary intended users of this service. They need access to detailed incident information to assess claims and understand the circumstances of the event. 

• Eligible for: All report types 
• Charge: Full commercial charge
• Redactions: Minimal (only where legally required) 

Residents, tenants, occupiers, and people directly involved 

We may provide a detailed report to individuals who were directly affected by the incident, subject to proof of residence or involvement, and appropriate redaction of other people’s personal data. 

• Eligible for: Fire/incident report; mobilisation report 
• Charge: Commercial charge 
• Redactions: Personal data about other individuals 

If further details are required for insurance purposes, we recommend requesting information through the relevant insurer, who may be entitled to more complete information. 

If you personally experienced a fire or a flood in your property, and would like to speak to a member of the London Fire Brigade about that, please call 020 8555 1200 and ask to be put through to your local fire station. 

Property owners, landlords, and managing agents 

We provide a Confirmation of Attendance (COA) only, unless the requester personally meets the eligibility criteria for “directly involved or directly affected”. 

This reflects our responsibility to protect the personal data of residents and other individuals involved in the incident. 

General public, media, and others 

Detailed incident reports are not available to the general public or the media. You can see information about incidents the Brigade consider to be of public interest on the Incidents page of our website. 

Types of information available 

Confirmation of Attendance (COA) – free 

A COA verifies that London Fire Brigade attended an incident and confirms basic details including: 

• Date and time 

• General location 

• High-level‑ nature of the incident 

A COA does not include operational detail, personal data, or information about cause, damage, or circumstances. 

Detailed reports (chargeable) 

For eligible requesters, the following may be available: 

The information provided will always be limited to what we can lawfully release. 

These reports are provided on a commercial basis, with costs reflecting the specialist nature of the information and the work required to prepare, review, and lawfully release the material. 

A full breakdown of charges is available in our Information for which a charge is made policy.

Before you submit a request

• In many cases, a COA is all that is needed, particularly for insurance claims handled by residents.
• If you are a resident seeking information for an insurance claim, your insurer may be entitled to a more complete set of information than we can provide directly to you.
• If the incident occurred outside London, we may not hold the report. You can find your local Fire Rescue service here.
• For incidents before the year 2000, records will be held by the London Metropolitan Archives.