As children and their families in the UK prepare for the fun of Halloween and Bonfire Night, AXA, one of the UK’s largest home contents insurance providers, is urging parents and the police to help ensure that homeowners do not become the victims of irresponsible or anti-social behaviour linked to fireworks and trick or treating.
The company’s statistics reveal that the seven days from 30th October to 5th November are the worst week of the year for malicious damage claims on home insurance policies. The incidence of these claims is 350% greater on 5 November, the worst day of the year, than on an average day, and on 31 October the number of claims is 270% higher than on an average day.
AXA statistics also reveal that generally Saturdays are the worst day of the week for malicious damage claims, prompting fears that this Halloween, which falls on a Saturday, will be a particularly bad year for homeowners.
Claims seen by the company on Halloween last year include broken windows, damage caused to paintwork by broken eggs and a wall being pushed over. On bonfire night, the company received many claims for malicious firework damage, mainly where devices were pushed through letterboxes with an average claim of nearly £1000. The company last year also received a claim where a fence panel was torn down and used on a bonfire.
As well as the damage to people’s property, Government statistics reveal that around 1,000 people are injured every year through fireworks and the incidence of ‘secondary fires’ (where there is no insurance claim or casualty reported) increased by four times the daily average on bonfire night.
Nick Kidd, Head of Household Underwriting at AXA said: “We don’t want to ruin anybody’s fun on Halloween or Bonfire Night but people do need to be vigilant. Although it is difficult to avoid someone putting something through the letterbox, people should take extra care to ensure windows and doors are locked, garden gates are secured and outbuildings, such as garages or sheds are locked.
“Any sort of damage caused to another person’s property is not only anti-social but also a criminal offence and while insurance can pick up the cost, it can’t deal with the emotional trauma. If property is damaged, customers should check their policy wordings as most home insurance policies will have a Home Assistance package where tradesmen can visit the property within hours to make it secure”.
Malicious damage claims are those where the damage was caused by a deliberately destructive act rather than through accident or negligence.
http://www.axa.co.uk/
