Home insurance claims will rise this week following damage and breakages to homes during New Year’s Eve parties and the aftermath of Christmas, Confused.com has predicted.

The comparison website has estimated that it will cost nearly £1billion to replace broken items, repair and clean up all the damage done over Christmas and New Year, with the average home spending £35 each.

Almost 10 per cent of British homes will have to spend as much as £100 to undo the damage caused by over-zealous party goers.

The research found that the festive season will bring about the destruction of 57.3 million plates, cups, and glasses, while there will be 91.7 million spillages to clear up from the nation’s carpets and floors.

Some of the home insurance claims will be for the 36.7 million Christmas presents which will fail to make it past the New Year’s festivities.

Other breakages will include televisions, windows, and furniture, and 10 per cent will break ornaments or other belongings playing on their Nintendo Wii.

While some households will kick themselves for the damage caused to their homes, for an unlucky 10 per cent the destruction will not be self-inflicted but as a result of burglary, with an average £247 worth of possessions being stolen per break-in.

For 14 per cent of Brits who have hosted festive parties, the stress and cost of cleaning up was too much and they regretted hosting the party, and eight per cent have had to make a claim on their home insurance as a result.
Some have found themselves out or pocket, however, because they failed to inform their home insurance provider of an increase in value of the goods in the home, while more than one in five said they were unaware that they were supposed to do this.

Darren Black, head of home insurance at Confused.com, said that the amount of damage caused to Brits’ homes over the festive period is “staggering.

“It’s often expensive to host a party anyway, without adding on the cleaning and repair bill when everyone has left,” he said. “However, you can’t get through the festive period without having a house-full at some point so maybe it’s best to keep all breakables out of reach.” 

© Fair Investment Company Ltd