Criminal damage
Over the past ten years 2.5 million holidaymakers returned home to find that burglars had paid them a visit, costing more than £820 million per year to replace stolen items and repair damage to the home. More than 600,000 people had their home vandalised in their absence.
Water leaks
1.7 million holiday-makers have arrived back home to find their property had suffered water damage from burst or leaky pipes costing over £960 million a year to put right.
Storm and fire
Almost 700,000 Brits have returned to storm damage and over 100,000 to fire damage.
Friends and family
Almost one million Britons said that they’d come home to find their children had wreaked havoc in their home totalling over £40 million annually. Almost half a million people said that a house sitter had also caused damage whilst they were away.
Utility repairs
Just under seven million Brits returned home to find a fault with a utility such as their central heating, hot water, gas or electricity, costing in excess of £210 million per year to fix.
Vicky Emmott, senior manager of underwriting at Halifax Home Insurance, commented: “Home disasters can be extremely distressing at the best of times, so returning to one after a relaxing holiday would certainly bring you back down to earth with a bump, so having adequate home insurance cover to protect your property - whether it’s occupied or not - is absolutely critical. After unexpected shocks like these we find that policyholders really appreciate our personal claims consultants who are highly trained to help customers get their lives back to normal with minimum fuss.
She continued: “As well as making sure they are insured there are lots of other practical things that holidaymakers can do to protect their properties whilst they’re away. For example, ensuring that the heating comes on during the winter can prevent pipes from bursting, and cancelling regular deliveries like milk or newspapers make it less obvious to a thief that your property is vacant.”
