Up to £68bn needed to cover school holiday accidents in the home

Parents may have to pay up to £68 billion each year to cover damages to their homes incurred from children being off from school, new research shows.

According to findings from Abbey, almost three quarters of families in the UK have had at least one household item damaged by a child in the past ten years with the average cost being £140.61 each time an accident occurs.

Lloyd Wilson, head of Abbey Insurance, said: “School holidays are prime time for breakages so parents be warned.”

“Although it can be expected that children will clumsily damage household items, the cost of replacing damaged goods can come as a nasty shock,” he added.

The research showed that more than half of 16-18 year olds have apparently damaged electronic equipment, the highest percentage across all age groups.

Meanwhile, the average annual premiums for car and home insurance in those in Islington in North London are the highest in the country according to a study conducted by actuarial consultancy EMB.

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Protect your pet with insurance

Too few of us are taking out pet insurance despite being a nation of animal lovers.

Debenhams Pet Insurance has released research which shows that three quarters of people with pets have not taken out cover.

Pet insurance can cover any number of things such as vets’ bills, counselling following an animal’s death and advertising and rewards should the pet go missing.

Debenhams believes that the threat to our animals is larger than ever, with high-profile celebrities recently suffering at the hands of animal thieves.

Pop singer Lily Allen had her English bull terrier stolen, while comedian Ricky Gervais helped out his neighbour whose Staffordshire bull terrier went missing.

Both dogs were returned safe and well but only after large rewards were put up, with Gervais offering £1,000 for his neighbour’s dog’s return.

“Pets are family members too. We insure our valuable possessions, we should be insuring our pets as well,” said Diane Jackson, head of Debenhams Personal Finance.

The UK’s love of animals is clear to see, especially when you consider that the RSPCA was established 60 years before the NSPCC.

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