FIRE! The very thought of it strikes fear in every householder's and business person's heart. In a matter of minutes it can destroy not only life but a lifetime's work or property. Insuring against the risk of fire is the least you should do to try and restore some peace of mind.

Yet Patricia Byron and the 100 or so other loss adjusters who work in Ireland see numerous cases of fire and other disasters in which the owner was so woefully underinsured that they will never recover all their losses. For a business person, a fire loss can mean permanent closure.

Ms Byron is keen at the outset to debunk a few myths about loss adjustment. "First of all we work for insurance companies, but not exclusively in their interest. Our job is to confirm that the policy is in order and to help the policyholder to get all their documents in order so that there is a swift settlement." In any given week she can be called to the scene of a fire, flood or explosion, or as happened recently, to the docks where a consignment of beef was spoiling due to a mix up of customs documents. "We did the best we could to salvage the meat that hadn't thawed and to arrange the disposal of the rest."

Loss adjustment is not for the faint hearted she says, and it is a job that, contrary to myth, requires a lot of compassion and patience. "The first impression people have of loss adjusters is that somehow we are there to prevent the claim being paid, but that isn't the case at all. We are there to make sure you receive the benefit you've been paying for all these years and that both the customer and the insurance company are satisfied."

Fifteen years in the job have convinced Ms Byron of one thing - that many people do not insure their property adequately. Inertia, she says, is the biggest problem.

"An insurance policy is something that most people prefer to shove in a drawer and forget about. They allow it to be renewed year after year without ever reviewing it and it is only when disaster strikes and I am called out that they discover how inadequate it is."

Anyone with a commercial or domestic mortgage is required to carry buildings insurance and the value will be set by the lender. Frequently extra building work, say an extension or significant improvements will have increased the value of the property and will not have been added to the policy. When a mortgage is discharged the owner of the building may fail to review the cover available under the policy or, worse still, allow the policy to lapse completely. An adequate insurance policy covers not only the contents of the building but also the full cost of rebuilding. Householders and business people can also be negligent in setting an accurate value on their contents or machinery, says Ms Byron:

"The new generation combination building/contents policies have gone a long way to eliminating the problem of average clauses since they automatically give a proportion of contents cover," she explains. But many people do not bother to assess the replacement value of their valuables. Policyholders tend to undervalue their belongings and forget to include items like books, tapes, even clothing.

"Most domestic fires in my experience are caused by chip pans," she says. "I wouldn't have one in my house for anything. I wouldn't even have a deep fat fryer since I have known people to carry them around and drop them. The amount of damage they can do is unbelievable and even when a fire is contained in the kitchen, the average claim will still be between £10,000-£20,000."

When there is a fire or other property damage, the loss adjuster works with the policyholder to assess the damage, gather all the relevant documents and process the claim. In the case of a business claim, the loss adjuster will assist the company, if necessary, to find alternative premises and ensure the continuity of the business.

Patricia Byron says she is horrified every time she comes across a company without Business Interruption Insurance. "Sometimes it is a small event that can close a company - the failure of a vital machine could halt production," she says. "The owner might think it's just a matter of a few days to get a replacement, but I've seen them go pale on the phone when they're told it might be three months before a new one can be shipped over from the States or Japan or some such place. Without Business Interruption Insurance he may never be able to recover that lost turnover."

Whether you own a house or a business, Patricia Byron recommends the following:

. Review your insurance policies every couple of years. If you are not convinced your building sum assured is adequate call the insurance company or your broker and arrange for a new assessment. Make sure you are covered for all eventualities.

. Make a list of your belongings and valuables and include a full description of the property, its original purchase date and price, the place it was purchased and the replacement cost. Depreciation may be taken into account in the payment of some claims.

. Take photographs of valuables. These will provide a record of your possessions and can be used to identify them if they are stolen.

. Keep copies of all insurance documents and valuations in a safe place such as a bank deposit box or a solicitors office. A record of these documents will expedite insurance claims.

. If you have a business, assign someone to be responsible for the company insurances.

. Take out Business Interruption Insurance.