Lithium battery fire compensation — are you eligible?

There is no single answer that applies to everyone, and we would be doing you a disservice if we pretended otherwise. What matters is establishing what actually caused the fire and who, if anyone, failed in a duty they owed you. Three broad routes come up again and again: something wrong with the product itself (the battery, the charger, or the e-bike or e-scooter it was fitted to); a landlord or housing provider whose fire-safety failures contributed to the incident; or an employer or delivery platform whose charging arrangements played a part. Depending on your circumstances, one, more than one, or none of these may apply.

What kind of incident this covers

We are talking here about property damage, injury, or bereavement caused by a fire or explosion involving a lithium-ion battery — most commonly in an e-bike, e-scooter, hoverboard, or vape, though the same principles apply to other lithium-ion battery-powered devices.

Not every situation has a viable compensation route, and we would rather say that plainly than let you assume otherwise. If you want to understand who might actually be responsible before deciding whether to take it further, the questions below — together with our guide to faulty charger and product liability claims — break the main liability angles down in more detail.

How we assess liability

We never assume liability. It depends on the specific facts of what happened, and those have to be established before anything else is worth discussing. The questions our lawyers work through first are usually these: was the battery or charger faulty when it was sold, or did a defect develop later? Was the e-bike a factory-built model or fitted with a conversion kit, and if so, was that kit properly certified? Was the property where the fire happened poorly maintained, or were there problems with shared charging or storage areas? And if it happened in a work context, was charging equipment provided and used safely?

Where the fire happened matters here too. Product-safety duties on sellers and manufacturers apply across Great Britain, but the law on landlord and housing fire-safety duties differs between England, Wales and Scotland, so the same facts can be approached differently depending on where you live.

We cannot tell you from a general page which of these applies to you — that judgement needs the facts of your own incident in front of it. What we can do is point you to the detail behind each route: our explainers on the e-bike, e-scooter and faulty charger and product liability routes take the faulty product, landlord, conversion-kit and workplace angles in turn, so you can see which one most closely matches what happened to you.

What evidence helps

Whatever the eventual route, the same categories of evidence tend to matter. Photographs of the damage, taken as soon as it is safe to do so. The damaged item itself — battery, charger, cables, e-bike or e-scooter — kept rather than thrown away, along with any original packaging. Purchase receipts or order confirmations, even a screenshot of an online order. Any correspondence with a landlord, managing agent or employer that might be relevant. And the fire service incident reference number, usually issued at the scene or shortly afterwards.

None of this needs to be gathered perfectly or all at once, and gaps in what you have do not necessarily rule anything out. For a fuller, practical rundown of what to collect and how to keep it safe, see our battery fire evidence checklist.

Where we are on enquiries

We are not taking enquiries yet. We have no form, telephone number or email address in service on this site, so nothing you send can reach us and we collect nothing.

We are not taking enquiries. We have no enquiry form, telephone number or email address in service, and nothing you send can reach us at present.

When we open a route, we will publish it on our contact page and say plainly what we do with what you tell us. This page is general information about how these claims work — it is not advice about your own case.