Parents face huge bills for accidental damage during summer holidays

Parents could face huge bills for accidental damage caused to their home by their children, children’s friends or family pets over the summer holidays, warns Sainsbury’s Home Insurance. This caution follows research findings which indicate that up to £639.3 million worth of damage was caused to the family home during the school holidays last year.

Children typically spend between six and nine weeks at home over the summer months and the chances of something getting broken or damaged is high. Last summer, 5.6 million people experienced some property damage caused by children or pets, with 1.33 million indicating that their own children had caused damage in the family home. However, the biggest culprits would appear to be their children’s friends, with 3.98 million laying the blame for damage squarely on these young visitors.

Three per cent (1.33 million) of British adults also said that the family pet had reeked havoc in the home, which should be of some concern to many households in light of Defaqto analysis that reveals only 4% of home insurance policies covers damage by the family pet.

Robert O'May, Sainsbury's Home Insurance Manager said: “The summer holidays are a long period of time to keep children amused and it’s impossible to supervise their play every minute of the day. However a mixture of general high spirits and children letting off steam can result in substantial damage to the family home and parents need to make sure they have adequate insurance to cover the inevitable mishaps and accidents that will occur. People should also check that their policies offer a protected no-claims discount so they don’t find themselves being unfairly penalised for making a one-off claim.”

In terms of specific rooms or areas that were stated as having suffered damage, most at risk from children and pets was the garden, cited by 1.9 million people. This was followed by damage to walls, carpets and flooring (840,000 people). Family homes in the North appear to be most susceptible to damage from children or pets over the summer holidays, with 1.67 million claiming damage over this period. The least accident prone children and pets are to be found in London, where 998,523 stated they had suffered damage over the summer vacation.

In terms of how this damage was caused, running around and playing chasing games was cited by 1.23 million people. The next most likely behaviour to result in some destruction to the home was playing ball games (1.18 million), followed by food or drink spillages (672,000).

Sainsbury’s Bank home insurance is competitively priced and consumers can save up to £124 in premiums when compared to other insurers. As well as being competitively priced, the bank also offers an extensive range of cover and benefits. This includes:

Unlimited buildings cover
Unlike some home insurers, Sainsbury’s Bank does not apply charges for customers paying their premiums by direct debit
Maximum standard no-claims discount is 30%. If protected NCD is paid for this rises to a maximum of 40%
Cover for accidental damage - even by pets
20% discount when buying combined buildings & contents insurance online