Smoking ban 'leads to more home insurance claims'

Posted : 29-06-2007

The soon-to-be-imposed smoking ban that affects public places in England will lead to a greater number of domestic fires - risking lives and leading to a greater number of home insurance claims, an expert has said.

According to Abbey, £11 billion worth of damage is caused to UK residences each year by cigarette-related fires, potentially costing home insurance providers the same sum.

Meanwhile the annual death toll stands at 132 and 1,600 injuries are caused in the same period by incidents of this nature.

Prasad Shastri, head of insurance marketing at Abbey, commented: "The landscape of social behaviour is going to change quite dramatically following the smoking ban and we anticipate that people are likely to spend more time entertaining at home rather than going out."

The smoking ban comes into effect on July 1st and will affect all public places, including train platforms, restaurants and bars.


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