For brokers, lithium-ion batteries have all the characteristics of an emerging risk hiding in plain sight: they are widespread, often poorly understood and capable of turning a small ignition source into a major property loss. Found in e-bikes, scooters, tradies’ tools, household electronics, battery storage systems and commercial inventories, they now cut across both residential and business risks.
Across Australia, fire services data shows home fires involving these batteries are increasing. Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) recorded 332 lithium-ion battery-related incidents in 2025, nearly one a day. In WA, recent data shows about half that number and the authorities describe battery related fires as the state’s fastest growing home fire risk.
Against this backdrop, brokers are trying to work out what this means for property portfolios, client conversations and non-disclosure risk. The issue is tricky because lithium-ion battery risk can sit quietly inside an otherwise standard property placement.
“I do think it’s flying below the radar somewhat,” said Martin Birch (pictured left), principal of Agri-Assurance in Sydney.
Birch, like many brokers, hasn’t yet fielded a fire claim involving a battery but he did some research about these fires for this interview. He suggested that brokers need to understand that lithium-ion battery fires behave very differently from conventional property fires, with thermal runaway causing rapid escalation, flammable gas release, toxic by-products and a persistent risk of re-ignition because damaged cells can retain hidden heat and keep reacting chemically.
What can make this insurance challenge especially awkward for brokers is that it does not always look like a conventional property exposure. The devices are small, commonplace and often brought onto a site by tenants, occupiers or staff rather than building owners. Some underwriters say the frequency is rising, but so is the severity, with small devices capable of contributing to six-figure losses because battery fires escalate fast, burn hot, can reignite and can leave heavy smoke and contamination damage even when the fire itself is contained.
The other challenge for brokers is how lithium-ion risk cuts across strata, retail, warehousing and trade risks where the exposure is often hidden and where devices may be damaged, poorly stored or left charging overnight.
When IB asked Melissa Jolly (pictured right), managing director of Pinnacle Insurance Brokers in Perth, where the most dangerous or concentrated areas of battery exposure are in her property portfolio, she narrowed it down to three main areas.
The first one, is strata or high‑density residential. For example, the risk presented by an e-bike or e-scooter being charged in hallways.
“One failure can displace an entire building and trigger massive liability claims,” she said.
Some underwriters also say hallways and common areas in strata are especially concerning because a battery fire can quickly become an egress problem, trapping residents before firefighters can get to them.
The second area Jolly is watching is retail and warehousing where there can be high‑density stockpiling of these batteries.
“They could be damaged or uncertified, like grey‑market imports sitting in bulk,” said Jolly. “You could deem that to be a fuel load waiting for a trigger.”
The third lithium-ion battery risk area is commercial and trades, including job sites where there are multiple high‑capacity tool batteries being fast‑charged overnight.
“Often, no one’s around to monitor them and they don’t have any thermal monitoring or fire‑related cabinets,” said Jolly.
Both brokers agree that brokers need to get sharper at spotting these risks early.
“From a broker’s standpoint, it helps to have a knowledge of the common triggers or hazard indicators,” said Birch.
Brokers need to be asking where batteries are stored, how they are charged, whether damaged devices are still in use and whether charging is happening overnight, unsupervised or near exits.
“It is rapidly moving from an under the radar situation to more of a mandatory disclosure point,” said Jolly.
That could be the most important shift for brokers. A year ago, battery exposure may have sat in the background of a property conversation. Now it is edging towards something that insurers may increasingly expect to be asked, answered and documented.
The broker takeaway is that lithium-ion batteries are no longer a niche hazard tucked away in product recalls and social-media videos. They are becoming a live property issue hiding in apartment corridors, toolkits, storerooms and warehouse racks. Brokers who raise this risk early with clients, ask educated questions and frame them as part of ordinary risk management will be better placed when underwriters start demanding clearer answers.
