Households are being urged to take extra care with barbeques, chimineas and firepits, as insurers reveal a huge rise in fire claims – many caused by garden accessories bought during the pandemic.
They have also pointed to a worrying new trend for handheld weed burners – effectively miniature flamethrowers that can be easily bought online – are also causing a small but rising number of insurance claims.
Major insurers Admiral and Aviva are both warning people using items such as barbecues, firepits and pizza ovens to make sure they follow safety advice and never leave fires unattended.
Admiral data reveals last year’s heatwave saw garden fire claims rise by 178 per cent – more than 2020 and 2021 combined. May, June and July were the worst months for these fires.
If you play with fire: Garden accessories such as chimineas, many bought during the pandemic, can be responsible for causing uncontrollable blazes
Noel Summerfield, head of household at Admiral, said: ‘Over the last four years, we’ve seen the number of claims for damage caused by garden fires soar after items like barbeques, firepits and bonfires became increasingly popular during pandemic lockdowns.
‘We thought the numbers might fall in 2022 as people spent less time at home, but in fact the opposite happened.’
Aviva said garden fire claims rose by 38 per cent during May to September of last year, compared to usual levels.
An Aviva spokesperson said the same trend had been seen in previous years too, with some coming from increased socialising in the garden during lockdowns.
Around half of claims involved sheds catching fire, while fences caught light in a third of cases.
In one in ten garden fire claims, the inferno was caused by putting ashes or disposable barbeques in a bin while they were still hot, igniting the rest of the contents.
Other common causes of summer garden fires are bonfires, but claims also came from cigarettes – and, in one case, a mirror reflecting light onto wood, causing it to catch light.
Meanwhile, insurer LV said it saw a 43 per cent increase in 2022 for fires caused by barbeques, firepits and chimineas, compared to 2021.
Many insurance policies contain rules on how close a barbeque or chiminea can be to a fence or anything flammable, so check the small print.
Flaming mad: A trend for weed burners is also causing an uptick in garden fire claims
Flamethrower warning
Admiral is also warning people to use caution when using weed burners after seeing a number of claims in recent years.
These include an incident where someone accidentally set fire to their shed and fence, and damaged a neighbour’s car.
Another case saw an oil tank explode after a fire from a weed burner spread, causing damage to a neighbouring property.
The devices are gaining in popularity, and can be bought for under £20 online.
Summerfield added: ‘We’ve also seen an increasing number of claims related to the use of bioethanol weed burners, with some fires getting out of control and causing a significant amount of damage, so budding gardeners should be particularly careful too.’
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
