The school summer holidays are upon us and our data suggests it’s a good idea to take extra care of your household possessions.
We looked at our figures, and between June 2021 and August 2021 the number of home insurance claims more than doubled, increasing by 109%.
This could be because kids enjoying their time off at home could lead to more accidents and mishaps around the house, with claims for bikes, tablets, PlayStations, and VR headsets all increasing in the summer months last year.
We recommend families take extra care with household items like electronic devices this summer and have even put together some useful tips to help you keep your possessions safe.
1. Keep breakables out of reach from young children
It might seem like an obvious one, but you should never underestimate children’s determination. Keep your valuables somewhere they can’t be reached by little hands that could cause expensive damage.
2. Protecting upholstered furniture from stains
Sofas and chairs will likely have meals and snacks dropped on them, soak up spilled drinks and be a seat for crafting! Choose fabrics that are stain resistant like nylon and polyester or use throws to cover sofas and slipcovers for chairs.
3. Keeping children safely away from Blinds
Blinds are unsafe for children and pulling the strings the wrong way can cause them to tangle inside the frame. Purchase blinds with safety clips that you install into the side of the wall or buy blind cord windups to keep strings out of children’s reach.
4. Mount TVs to the wall
Yorkshire Dad blogger Karl, father of two boys Ted, 8, and Charlie, 6, has shared his top tip to keeping televisions damage-free. “The boys used to put mucky handprints over the TV and when they squabbled over what to watch they would stand in front of the TV and hold it. The TV at the time was placed on a cabinet and would wobble, after much frustration I mounted it to the wall and it’s now fully out of reach!”
5. Keep carpets stain-free with rugs
Carpets are easily stained by mud, drinks, food, paint, nail polish, make-up or anything else children may come across while playing. It’s worth purchasing carpets that have stain-resistant fibres in like nylon but we understand this can be expensive. A lower cost solution is to buy rugs for the areas where children play, these can protect your carpet and be rolled away when not in use.
6. Make sure you have the right level of cover
Home contents insurance means you can protect the stuff you love at home. You can get covered for accidental damage, theft and vandalism, household leaks and more. This will give you peace of mind knowing that if any of your possessions do get damaged you will be claim money back fast and easy.
If you’re looking for home and contents insurance, you can get covered in minutes with our customizable policy. Find out more here.