Brits put TV before holidays and home improvements

Square-eyed Brits are more likely to cut back on holidays, eating out and home improvements than surrender their satellite TV subscriptions, according to Legal & General.

At a time when the recession seems to be driving a "stay-at-home" culture, with 41% of Brits saying they now stay at home in the evenings, the cost of TV viewing is taking priority over other household expenses. Just 14% of Brits say they would cut back on their Sky TV or cable subscription in order to manage their household budget, compared with more than one in four who would cut back on holidays, 30%, eating out, 42%, and home improvements, 28%.

The latest findings build on previous data from Legal & General which revealed that so integral is the TV to our lives that the majority of respondents when asked to rename their living room would call it the ‘TV or home cinema' room, 30%. In addition, 44% of Brits who regularly sit down to eat with friends and family do so with the TV switched on.

In the survey of over 4,000 adults, the latest findings from Legal & General's Changing Face of British Homes survey reveal what steps Brits are currently taking, or planning to take, in order to better manage their household budget. With almost nine in ten Brits, 88%, planning to make changes, the research reveals some interesting findings when it comes to people's financial priorities.

The most common cutbacks were all focused on the high street not the home - with 42% cancelling eating out, 54% reigning in their shopping sprees and 49% economising on the weekly shop.

Beyond this, people would make some major lifestyle changes before they would give up their beloved TV subscriptions, such as halting home improvement plans, 28%, cancelling holidays abroad, 30%, starting to make packed lunches, 31%, and stopping or reducing charitable donations, 16%.

Just 14% are prepared to give up their Sky or cable TV subscriptions, with people in London, the Midlands and North East being those most reluctant to give up their TV channels, 12%.
Covering your home

Alongside being prepared to put DIY projects on hold, more than one in four people, 28%, said they would look to shop around for cheaper home insurance to keep the family budget down. While some Brits may be able to make a saving on the cost of their household insurance, cheaper insurance may not always provide the level of cover expected.

This could be a particular concern to the over 35s, who are three times more likely than the under 25s to shop around for cheaper insurance - 11% compared with 33%.

Garry Skelton, marketing director at Legal & General's general insurance business said: "It appears that Brits are reluctant to give up their satellite TV subscriptions and are prepared to undertake bigger lifestyle changes before giving up or changing their TV viewing.

It is clear by the number of people looking to save money across all aspects of their home life that the majority of us are feeling the ‘pinch'. So it's not surprising that searching around for cheaper home insurance is on the list of areas where we could cut back. But we would just add a word of caution to ensure that household insurance customers are careful and do not find themselves with cover that is less than they really need, in return for that cheaper premium. We would advise anyone shopping around for a better deal to check the details carefully."

Top tips

In order to help those people reviewing their insurance needs to avoid falling into the trap of making cut backs that downgrade their quality of cover, Legal & General has outlined a few of the key issues that should be considered if shopping around for new home insurance cover:

Decide what you need to insure

Do you need to insure just your property, your home contents, or both? Most household insurance providers will offer a discount for arranging cover for both the building and the contents of your home under the same policy.

Check your level of cover is adequate

Buildings insurance is there to help cover the cost of repair or rebuild costs of your home if there is an insured event such as flood or fire. The level of cover should be sufficient to rebuild your property which will be different to the current market value of your home. A guide to the cost of rebuilding your home is available on the Association of British Insurers' website at http://abi.bcis.co.uk/

Contents insurance is designed to provide cover for the repair or replacement of items actually in your home, such as furniture, furnishings and personal belongings. The cost to replace these items can surprisingly be much more than expected so it may help to use Legal & General's online home contents calculator at legalandgeneral.com/contentscalculator, which is designed to tot-up the cost of the items in your home, room by room.

Check if any excess amount applies to your policy

It is usual to pay an initial amount towards a claim. This is called an excess. There are often standard amounts outlined in the household insurance policy. However, if you agree to pay more than the standard amount towards each claim, the higher excess will usually reduce the cost of your cover.

Choose a policy with the features you need

Sometimes cheapest isn't always best. You need to check that you have cover in place for all the things you consider are important to you. For example, do you want cover so that if there is an emergency such as a leaking pipe the cost of calling out an emergency plumber is covered. This is normally called home emergency cover. Or would you like to protect your belongings if you take them outside your home such as your camera, bag or money. This cover is called personal possessions. Some additional features are included automatically without an additional charge, others may require you to pay an extra amount. So it is important to compare and check features that are included or not included so you have the quality of cover in place that you require.