UK homeowners are spending vast sums to fix home emergencies with an average of £527.30 per event.
Research commissioned by home insurer NFU Mutual, highlighted that to avoid costs some people would rather simply not fix the problem or fix it themselves.
Some 74% of surveyed homeowners said they are concerned about home emergencies and more than half (52%) have experienced one in the last two years. Top concerns included heating systems breaking down (32%); failure of electricity or gas supply (27%) and blocked or broken plumbing systems (26%).
Home emergency cover can help deal with the cost of unexpected home emergencies. Most home insurance policies do not cover such home emergencies but will provide a paid home emergency cover add-on.
As for paying for damage caused by home emergencies, 45 – 54 year olds are most likely to pay to fix the damage from their savings whereas 16 – 24 year olds, who are more likely to experience a home emergency, are most likely to get a credit card or loan which may lead to costly repayments.
“Whilst home insurance protects against disasters such as fire, flood and storm damage, the costs of everyday domestic breakdowns, such as broken boilers, can be expensive to fix,’ said Ross Garner, home insurance specialist at NFU Mutual.
“Although some people put money aside to cover unexpected costs, repairs can often cost more than anticipated and home emergencies can happen in quick succession. This leads to more than one in five people taking out cover following a bad experience.”
