Sainsbury’s Home Insurance warns that parties held by children in their parents’ homes are collectively responsible for around £46,000 of damage every night of the year(1). With Halloween fast overtaking Bonfire Night as autumn’s biggest festival, and falling on a Friday this year, October 31st could prove to be one of the most costly party nights of the year.

Of the £16.8 million of damage caused by children’s parties every year, the Bank’s research reveals that 54,000 parties – 8.6% of all those held by children – are thrown each year in the parental home without their parents’ permission and that these alone are responsible for up to £1.4 million of damage each year(1).

With the increasing use of social networking sites Sainsbury’s Home Insurance is warning that homeowners may not be fully covered should their children host parties having posted invites on sites such as Bebo or Facebook.

Neil Laird, Sainsbury’s Home Insurance Manager, commented: “Halloween has grown hugely popular in recent years, and we’d expect some serious parties this Friday night. The worry, though, is that with many people now posting invites on social networking sites, these parties can easily get out of hand, and if they do, some insurers may claim the homeowner failed to take due care of the property and could refuse to pay up.

“At Halloween, the risks of not knowing exactly who’s at your party are even greater than usual, for obvious reasons, and we’d strongly advise people, particularly, teenagers, against openly advertising fancy dress parties on social networking sites.”

The research for Sainsbury’s Home Insurance also suggests that if a child holds a party in the parental home there is a more than one in three (38%) chance that damage of some sort will be caused. While for just over 1 million parents, the damage was limited to less than £100, the consequences can be hard on the wallet, with 17,000 parents admitting that parties for their children in the past five years had resulted in damage costing between £1,000 and £5,000 each. Some 124,000 parents said that they did not know how much the damage had cost(1).

(1) Based on analysis of data from ICM. 3,000 people were interviewed by ICM between 2nd August 2008 and 10th August 2008. Interviews were conducted over the phone with a total of 604 interviews with parents of children aged 13-24 years old. The consumer omnibus research conducted by ICM uses a large sample size that reflects the demographic profile of GB. Given this, it is possible to extrapolate figures and make projections from the research results within appropriate confidence intervals.

(2) Only eligible for NCD Protection after payment of a small additional premium.

(3) Additional cover can also be purchased at an additional premium.

As the clocks go back on October 26th Halifax Home Insurance is reminding homeowners not to make life easy for the opportunist burglar during dark winter evenings.

• Burglaries increase by around 20% during the winter months
• London was the top spot for burglaries last year, followed by Leeds and Manchester
• Average cost of a burglary last year was over £2,000
• Take steps now to protect your property, advises Halifax Home Insurance

When the clocks go back, opportunistic burglars use the cover of darkness to target homes that are easy to break into. Halifax Home Insurance’s own claims data shows that burglaries increased by 20% during the winter months last year**, but there are many simple ways that can go a long way to avoiding becoming a victim.

Senior claims manager Martyn Foulds said: “We tend to see burglary claims start to rise around this time of year, and with the average burglary claim now reaching over £2,000 it is certainly worthwhile taking some simple and cost effective measures to avoid becoming an easy target. Although home insurance will cover any financial loss, some items such as family heirlooms and items of sentimental value cannot be replaced, so it’s far better to avoid a burglary happening in the first place.”

Valuables

• Keep valuable items out of sight
• Mark property with your postcode using an ultra violet pen
• Keep receipts and photographs of valuable purchases as these can help if you need to make a claim
• Consider installing a safe in your home for small items like credit cards, digital cameras and MP3 players
• Have expensive items of jewellery valued every three years by a reputable jeweler

Locks

• Fit visible, key operated window and door locks and keep them locked
• Pay particular attention to windows on the ground floor
• Doors that lock from the inside can be fitted with bolts for additional security
• Don’t risk leaving keys outside the property as burglars know where to look

Alarms

• Install one in a prominent position and always set it
• Remember an alarm won’t stop a burglar getting in so use one in conjunction with other security measures

Gardens

• High walls, railings, and trellising on fence tops can be enough to deter thieves as they slow down a quick getaway
• Prickly hedges and thorny bushes around the property can also deter thieves and obscure their view of what’s inside
• Keep bins and ladders out of sight as these can be used to gain access to the property.

If you have been burgled

• Report it to the police as soon as possible and obtain an incident number
• Tell your insurer, quoting the police incident number and giving as much detail as possible about what has been taken and any damage caused to property
• If the home has been left unsecured after a break in, ensure the police and your insurer are both aware of this fact.

Halifax Home Insurance offers additional Home Emergency cover, which for around £4 a month can ensure that your home is made secure following a break in, and can also help with a whole range of other domestic emergencies, from lost keys to leaking pipes and gas or electricity failures.

Being burgled causes homeowners a great deal of stress and upset, not to mention the financial loss, yet still according to the ABI (Association of British Insurers) around one in four homes has no home insurance cover at all. Halifax Home Insurance provides unlimited cover for buildings and contents, so homeowners will never be underinsured.***

Top ten hotspots for burglary claims in 2007:

* 1. London
* 2. Leeds
* 3. Manchester
* 4. Harrow, Uxbridge and Wembley
* 5. Nottingham
* 6. Slough
* 7. Bradford
* 8. Bolton and Wigan
* 9. Solihull and South East Birmingham
* 10) Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth and Lichfield

*According to Halifax Home Insurance claims data 2007 - Winter months include Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan Feb and Mar

**According to 2007 annual Halifax Home Insurance claims data

***Certain limits apply including single and high-risk items, money and contents in the open.  Details are available within the policy and schedule.  High risk items are subject to limits of £1,500 per item up to a total limit of £15,000.

From art and antiques to comics and collectables, many people hoard away their prized possessions in their homes, often giving little thought to their total value. But, warns Halifax, many may need to get their collections valued, certified and insured to make sure they are protected against future loss or damage.

Senior claims manager Martyn Foulds said: “Although in many cases collectables are irreplaceable, most people would at least want to recover any financial loss in the event of them being stolen or damaged. We’d recommend anyone who has a potentially valuable collection to get it valued by an expert regularly and ensure they obtain a dated copy of the valuation certificate.”

Halifax Home Insurance offers unlimited cover for both buildings and contents, so homeowners can be confident they will never be underinsured. Customers are advised to tell them about any single high risk items worth over £1,500 so they can be listed on the policy, and also keep a dated valuation certificate or purchase receipt so they can prove the item’s worth should they need to make a claim.

Collectors with sum insured home insurance policies need to be aware that their insurers may apply averaging to any claim made, which means that if they have underestimated the value of their home contents, they may only receive a percentage of the value of their valuables equal to that which they have insured should they try to claim.

For example, if a home’s contents are insured for £30,000 but are really worth £40,000, when a person claims they may find the value of the claim is reduced in line with the amount that they are underinsured by - in this case 25% - therefore if their claim was for £6,000 they would only receive £4,500.

Martyn Foulds says: “As many people find it difficult to know exactly what their home contents are worth, Halifax does not apply this system of averaging and instead offers unlimited home contents cover. As long as customers keep us informed of any single high value items over £1,500, they can be confident their collections will be covered.”

To take care of collectables, Halifax offers the following tips:

• Ensure collectables such as art, antiques and comic books are stored in a safe secure place and away from damp or anything else that might cause damage
• Avoid displaying valuable collections in conspicuous places such as on living room windowsills as this can be an advertisement to opportunist burglars
• If possible keep valuable collections in a safe or lockable cabinet in order to deter thieves
• Make sure you tell your insurer about any items of particularly high value, and keep any valuation certificates or receipts in case you need to make a claim in future.
• Take photographs of your collectable items as these can also help insurers to process your claim more easily.

Music and movie fans are being urged to keep track of their collections as the download boom creates a risk that valuable possessions are not covered by home insurance, Virgin Money warns.

More than 200 million legal music downloads have been sold in the UK since the launch of online stores in early 2004* and digital versions now account for 85 per cent of Top 20 singles sales.

Experts are predicting a similar boom in movie downloads following a deal between Apple’s iTunes and film studios allowing films to be downloaded on the day that DVDs are released. The site has already seen more than two million feature films sold.**

But Virgin Money is urging music and movie fans to make sure their home insurance will cover them for the value of their collections if their computer or laptop is damaged or stolen.

Not all household and contents insurance will pay out for downloaded tracks.

Grant Bather, spokesman at Virgin Money, said: “More people are choosing to download music and films and as such, their computer will have a lot of information on it that if stolen, could be lost forever.

“A number of artists including Bloc Party, Marillion and Radiohead have all released their music online and it is clear that over the coming years artists will be exploiting the internet as a way to release their tracks.

“As such, fans need to make sure that should their computer get damaged, lost or stolen, that the tracks or feature films can be restored.”

With the Virgin Money Home and Contents Cover, householders are able to claim on any downloads that they have receipts for up to a total of £3,000. If the music is lost or stolen they can claim as if they are CDs. Users who download music and film should print off and keep all receipts safe.

Contents insurance also covers home office equipment, including a computer, up to £5,000, while laptops can be covered by the additional Personal Possessions cover.

Laptops lost outside of the home would not be compensated for download cover, but the laptop could be covered under personal possessions cover outside of the property.

* BPI 30 June 2008
** Apple iTunes 11 April 2007