Laundrettes risk review
Y
OU MAY be excused for thinking that the subject this month – laundrettes – is a little old fashioned and out of date. Although
the variety of shops in most high streets has become rather limited, with a prevalence of coffee shops and charity outlets, few laundrettes are seen even in the side streets. The impact of large loss fires in laundrettes may therefore be thought to be insignificant. In the grand scheme of things this may be true,
with laundrettes accounting for only 1.5% of the total of large fire losses recorded by the insurers. A total loss of some £5.6m over a period of ten years may not be big beer, but are there any underlying trends that would raise cause for concern? During the ten years of this survey, from January 2009 until December 2018, there were 23 large loss fires in locations classified as laundrettes. These represent just 0.4% of all large loss fires and 4% of those in retail premises as a whole. Looking at the distribution of the fires year by year, however, the figures reveal a surprise (see Table 1, opposite). Is the increase in the number of fires in the past
three years worrying? The average cost per fire in the first seven years is £245,405, whereas in the last three it has remained much the same at £244,233. This indicates that the latest generation of washers and driers do not necessarily lead to more expensive and costly fires. The question therefore comes to mind as to whether the definition of ‘laundrette’ has changed over the past few years. The term used to be associated with premises, typically a converted lock up shop, where members of the public went
52 MARCH 2019
www.frmjournal.com
Despite an apparent decline in use, Adair Lewis finds that fires in laundrettes have actually grown over the last three years
to do their washing. In the past couple of years the interpretation of this may have expanded to include facilities that are provided for washing in properties such as sheltered housing, healthcare premises and university halls of residence. An increase in the numbers of fires may therefore
be related to a change in perception of the term ‘laundrette’, and hence the category in which events are recorded in the database, rather than an actual increase in serious fires. If the increase in numbers is associated with the database, newer washers and driers may not necessarily be a greater fire hazard than older machines. Washing machines and especially driers have had a bad press in recent years. While the focus of articles has been on household appliances rather than commercial equipment found in laundrettes, a recent article concluded that the number of fires in these appliances has stayed at a similar level for five years; estimates that washing machines and tumble driers account for 35% of fires in household appliances; and notes that they are the cause of an average of some 20 fires each week. While admitting that fires caused by washing
machines do occur, many articles tend to play down the severity of the incidents, reporting that they were due to a burnt out switch or motor. The fact however is that smoke from a burnt out motor can bring widespread and costly damage, especially if the facility is in a hotel or healthcare premises. As for every commercial sector, the losses associated with the building are the major component in the event of fire. In laundrettes, this came to just under 42% of the total compared to 47%
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