Insurance company, Aviva is warning their customers to take extra care when charging electrical devices after multiple home fire claims have been made caused by both chargers and batteries during 2021.
According to Aviva, "multiple home fire claims this year have been linked to faulty, damaged, or incorrect chargers, or items which were left to charge for too long. Aviva found a common cause of components over-heating, leading to fires in the home and in many cases, damage was exacerbated because customers had put items to charge and then left their homes, enabling fires to take hold.".
Claims made included:
- A fire where an e-scooter battery had been left on charge in a garage, costing £150,000
- A fire believed to be caused by an e-cigarette battery exploding, costing £140,000
Lithium-ion batteries are becoming more and more popular in everyday life, with the majority of us carrying round a Lithium battery being our phone! These batteries are therefore an ever-growing risk that we need to get under control. There has been an increase in awareness of the risks they post over the last 3 years, and they are now being recognised as a serious fire risk by insurance companies.
Further to this, insurance firm Zurich said they have seen claims for Lithium battery blazes triple over three years, with majority being caused by defective batteries, incorrect chargers or items being left on charge for too long. Batteries bought off the internet cheaply, do not always meet safety standards and therefore are also to blame.
If you are unsure as to which product you need to protect the risk you have posed by a Lithium battery, take a look at our product selector on our website. This will allow you to identify which product/s best suited to manage your particular Lithium battery fire risk.
So how does our Lithium Battery Safety Range protect you from the risk of fire?
Our range offers you the peace of mind that if a fire was to break out you have the extinguishers to be able to put it out and keep it out. See the full Lithium-ion Battery Safety Range.
The Firechief range includes high-performance fire extinguishers, fire blankets, first aid kits, lithium-ion fire extinguishers for your home and leisure time. For more information, call us on +44 (0)330 999 0019 or email sales@firechiefglobal.com.
Other resources
If you would like to find out more about Lithium-ion batteries and why they are a fire risk, explore our other interesting articles below.
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The information contained within this blog is provided solely for general informational and educational purposes and is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Before taking any actions based upon this information, we advise the reader to consult any and all relevant statutory or regulatory guidance and where felt necessary to consult a qualified fire or industry regulation professional. The use or reliance on any information contained herein is solely at the reader's risk.