The number of insurance claims made for domestic fires fell by 7% last year to 96,000, the Dutch insurance association VvV said on Wednesday.

The drop is largely due to there being fewer storms, the organisation said. ‘Experience shows that storms with thunder and lightning lead to more fire damage claims, but we did not have many of them last year,’ director Richard Weurding said.

This year, the association also looked at the age of claimants and found most were made in the age range of people likely to have children. People aged between 38 and 56 were twice as likely to make a claim as other age groups.

This, the VvV says, is probably due to the number of battery-powered toys and other battery-powered objects which are left too long to charge.

There were 27 fires in which people died last year, two thirds of which were due to human behaviour, most often smoking.