Throw away society shuns repairs

Britain's ‘fridge mountains' and ‘electronic landfills' are set to get bigger as 86% of Brits admit that they replace broken or damaged household items without any attempt to fix them first, according to new research from Legal & General.

Despite calls to make our homes more environmentally friendly, almost half , 46%, of Brits would replace a stereo, mp3 or DVD player simply because it had stopped working rather than try to repair the item. Additionally, more than one in ten, 12% of Brits would replace an electrical item just because the fuse had blown.

The findings are part of Legal & General's Changing Face of British Homes research, which surveyed a GB representative sample of 4,000 adults. This highlighted the following key reasons why Brits throw items away rather than repair them:

Items replaced rather than repaired %

If a stereo/ mp3/ DVD player stopped working 46%
If the washing machine or dishwasher broke 44%
If my digital camera stopped working properly 42%
If the operating speed of my computer became very slow/ kept crashing 23%
If the TV picture went a bit funny 21%
If the inside of the kettle became coated in limescale 18%
If a fuse blew in a low cost electrical item for example, lamp, iron or radio 12%

The throw away generation:

Overall 25 to 34 year olds are the most likely to throw away any household items if they stop working before trying to repair them, 91%. This is also true for technology items like mp3 players, DVD players or stereos, with 54% of 18 to 24 year olds replacing their current model rather than try to repair them, compared to 35% of people over 55.

The South of England is one of the leading throw away regions of the UK, with 88% more likely to replace rather than repair household items.

Almost a fifth of those in the Northof Scotland, 16%, would replace a low cost electrical item just because the fuse blew.

Those in the North East of England are most likely to get a replacement television just because the picture went a bit funny, 26%, compared to just 15% of those in the West Country who would replace it.

5% of those in Lancashire would buy a replacement oven if it became too dirty!

Ruth Wilkins, Head of communications at Legal & General's general insurance business said: "With environmental issues increasingly on the public agenda, it is surprising that such a large number of us, 86%, are still choosing to replace our household goods and possessions rather than try to repair them.

The cost of replacing all the appliances being thrown away, with brand new appliances, can mount up. Replacing household items, especially electrical goods with a ‘brand new' or latest version, may cost more than the price paid for the old one. So when replacing, or upgrading items in a home, Brits should also check and if necessary update their household insurance cover so it is still at an appropriate level to cover all their home contents, including any new or replacement items."

To help Brits check that they do have a realistic level of household cover in place, Legal & General has developed an online home contents calculator in the form of a 3D virtual home which enables customers to ‘tot up' the value of their home contents and possessions, room by room. The calculator is available at legalandgeneral.com/contentscalculator .

A household insurance policy is not designed to repair or replace items when they break down, but does provide cover if household items need to be repaired or replaced where there has been an event that is covered under the policy such as flood, fire or theft. Items that are not repairable are normally replaced on a ‘new for old' basis. For example, in the event of loss or damage to a TV, Legal & General will replace this with an identical model or if not available, one of comparable quality.