Sainsburys warns of home insurance spike

Sainsbury's braced for a rise in the number of claims made on home insurance policies as people look to cover the cost of holiday-related damage.

Drawing from last year's experience, when the number of claims handled by Sainsburys in the first week of January was 37 per cent higher than average, the home insurance provider predicts over £25.4 million worth of claims will be made across the UK in the first seven days of 2010.

As a result, Ben Tyte, Sainsbury's Home Insurance manager, has urged homeowners to check their policies to ensure they are fully covered in the event of a break-in or accident .

In these challenging economic times, opportunist thieves could well be on the look-out for unattended homes over the festive period, while large numbers of Christmas visitors could increase your chances of accidental damage, so the chances of having to make a yuletide claim increase dramatically, he confirmed.

Ways to avoid making a new year claim include checking Christmas tree lights conform to British safety standards and keeping candles away from Christmas trees and Christmas cards.

The news comes as figures from the co-operative insurance show around 19 per cent of home and motor insurance claims are made in the first two months of the year.