Tim Humphreys ABI. The Insurance Industry s role in Tackling Fire and Arson

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1 Tim Humphreys ABI The Insurance Industry s role in Tackling Fire and Arson

2 Recent developments in fire insurance claims Insurers are very concerned about the increasing cost of fire losses, which reached record levels of 1.3bn in 2008, although they have fallen slightly since then Business Interruption claims cost a further 200m per year Insurers are reporting more multi-million pound claims Insurers agree that the number of fires is decreasing but the average cost of fire is increasing The Government s most recent estimate of the economic cost of fire was for 2004 and that was 7bn These costs arose from the cost of anticipating fires, the cost of the FRS and the consequential costs resulting from fires The economic cost of arson in 2004 was estimated to be 2.44bn

3 Cost of fire claims notified in the UK m 1,400 1,200 1, Commercial Domestic

4 Deaths from fires

5 Number of Fires in UK, thousands, Dwellings Other Buildings Road Vehicles Other 1981 Fires (thousands)

6 Average Cost of a fire claim s 30 Average Cost of a Fire claim Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Commercial Domestic Total

7 Fire and Recession Historically there is a link between recession and certain types of crime, for example burglary During the last recession ( ) the number of deliberate fires increased from 53,000-80,000 Recession is also thought to be likely to increase the number of fraudulent and malicious cases of arson Around half of all fires at business premises are caused by arson and about a fifth of house fires are caused deliberately However, so far the expected increase in fire losses has not materialised during this downturn

8 What is the ABI doing about the increasing cost of fire and arson? We have developed the paper tackling fire: a call for action which includes proposals to reduce the number and cost of fires The paper was launched in Parliament in December 2009 at an event hosted by Stewart Jackson MP Proposals include: Setting local targets to reduce economic losses FPA to provide local FRSs with details of large loses in their areas Review of the evidence base on the benefits of sprinklers overseen by an independent Project Board Widely endorsed guidance on the benefits of sprinklers A task force to look at the fire performance of MMC buildings The Arson Control Forum has already agreed to work with the ABI, the APB and the FPA on a strategy to reduce arson

9 How insurers investigate arson Arson, both malicious and fraudulent, results in insurance claims worth hundreds of millions of pounds each year The detection rate for arson is only 8% compared to 24% for other offenses Prosecution rates are also low Insurers will have different triggers to investigate arson For example an insurer may ask a loss adjuster to get involved with all fire claims which cost over 5000 For claims over 100k, loss adjusters are likely to seek fire service reports on the fire and appoint forensic investigators who with work with the FRS on the cause of the fire Loss adjusters will also investigate how well the business was doing to establish whether the insured had reason to commit arson Insurers may also look into whether any of the Directors had criminal records which they had not disclosed to the insurer Loss adjusters and the forensic investigators they appoint work well with the FRS However, more needs to be done to improve the detection of arson and the prosecution of arsonists

10 Proposals to reduce arson The Arson Control Forum, ABI and FPA have met and agreed the following strategy to reduce arson: The Arson Control Forum (which is a stakeholder group run by the Chief Fire Officers Association and includes the ABI, FPA, government departments, the police, arson investigators and others) should work to improve the coordination of the police and the Fire and Rescue Services, assisted where appropriate by the insurance industry (including insurers, loss adjusters and the Insurance Fraud Bureau) to improve the detection of arson and the prosecution of arsonists. This would also involve preparation of best practice guidance on arson investigation. The Fire Protection Association should concentrate its efforts on providing high quality technical guidance and advice on how the risk of arson can be managed by those who might be victims of arson, for example, schools, hospitals, businesses and residents. The Association of British Insurers and the Arson Prevention Bureau, working with the Insurance Fraud Bureau, should concentrate their efforts on deterring arsonists by identifying case studies of successful prosecutions of fraudulent and malicious arsonists.

11 The case for sprinklers Insurers agree that sprinklers are key to minimising fire damage once a fire has started England allows unusually large buildings to be built without sprinklers Insurers would like to see the more widespread use of sprinklers but the competitive insurance market means they cannot require them across the board The cost/benefit case for sprinklers should be re examined against the background of the increasing cost of fire claims Cost/benefit case should include the costs to wider society and economy of fire Governments of the UK should commission this work, overseen by a broad stakeholder Project Board Work is currently underway to look again at the cost benefit case for sprinklers following proposals by the Welsh Assembly to fit them in all new homes

12 Performance Indicators We think it would be helpful for Chief Fire Officers to include the economic cost of fire in their areas as an indicator of performance There is already some very good work going on in this area, for example through the Fire Performance Network However, we should look again at the work on the economic cost of fire which underpins many current performance indicators to see if it can be improved upon For example can we revise and improve the 2004 estimates on the average cost of a fire in a domestic and in a commercial building? The FPA is also looking at how it could supply tailored data to each FRS on the cost of fires in their areas

13 Other factors Insurers are also concerned about increasing response times; possible allocation of resources away from the commercial estate and firefighting tactics Modern methods of construction and the performance of these buildings during fires The Fire Minister recently hosted a round-table meeting on timber frame buildings to consider what further steps could be taken to manage risks associated with these building types Insurers believe arson is a particular problem during the construction phase of these buildings They are working on guidance on how these sites can best be managed

14 Next Steps We consulted with various organisation during the drafting of the paper, including CLG, CFOA, ACF, Devolved Administrations, CBI, FSB, fire industry, sprinkler lobby etc We want to build a consensus between stakeholders in support of our proposals. CFOA warmly welcomed the proposals at the launch of tackling fire We are arranging meetings with key stakeholders to discuss how we can work together to implement these proposals We have presented our concerns to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fire and will continue to engage with MPs and other opinion formers on this issue We think the best way forward is to implement the strategy on arson agreed with the ACF, the FPA and the ABI