Culinary clumsiness costs homeowners dear

Attempts to save money by staying at home rather than going out could be costing Brits up to £1.5 billion a year, a new survey from AA Insurance reveals.

Nearly half (46.2%) of all Brits questioned are choosing to stay at home and order takeaways or re-discover the art of home cooking thanks in part to celebrity chef TV programmes, rather than eating out. This has also been spotted by the nation's supermarkets, who are offering deals on restaurant-quality take home ready meals and wines at a fraction of restaurant prices. However, with nine out of ten homeowners admitting they have suffered culinary mishaps costing on average £100 a year, staying in can cost more than they bargained for.

With stains and breakages an inevitable hazard of eating at home, homeowners are having to put their hands in their pockets more often in attempt to rectify culinary disasters. The AA Insurance research discovered the top accidents are:

China / glass breakages (51.8%)
Food stains (43%)
Red wine spills (33.6%)
Cooking accidents e.g. small fires (25%)

As the recession stretches family budgets AA Insurance believes people will increasingly be finding their entertainment at home. With 88% of people surveyed saying they have less disposable income and are becoming more cautious about spending money, dining out is one of the first things to go.

With a greater inclination to stay at home, domestic accidents become increasingly likely. While many accidents may not justify making an insurance claim Brits are nevertheless spending large sums of money either attempting to fix the problem themselves (37.7%), or buying replacement items (19.6%).

Director of AA Insurance, Simon Douglas says, "This survey clearly shows that Brits are becoming more cautious about spending money. Only 5% of those surveyed found their home disaster justified an insurance claim for accidental damage and many would have been unable to claim anyway, as less than half of home contents policyholders have an Accidental Damage extension to their contents policy. I'm also concerned that an estimated third of homes have no contents cover at all and some families are considering letting their insurance cover lapse to save money - but that could cost them dear in the long term.

"As the amount of entertaining being done in the home is clearly increasing, now is a good time to check that you have an accidental damage extension on your home policy as the number of insurable mishaps is clearly increasing."

To find out more about AA Insurance, visit theAA.com