UK’s top home emergency fears revealed
...and how much money we have saved to deal with them.

While heights and spiders may be some of the UK’s biggest collective fears, there are other fears which are often overlooked - the fear of home emergencies.

In a study by the appliance and boiler insurance company Row.co.uk, it was found that the ultimate home emergency fear is discovering burst pipes and finding the house flooded. Almost 29% of us are afraid of this, which is roughly 11 million British adults.

In a rather amusing comparison, a 2015 survey by Trulia found that 38% of people would like a swimming pool in their dream house - probably not what they meant.

“The first thing to do when finding burst pipes in your home is to turn off the water supply, plus your boiler and central heating system. It’s then important to quickly drain as much water out of the system as possible to prevent more water spilling through the house, so start by flushing the toilets and turning on all taps. If there’s any sitting water from the leak it’s imperative you clear as much up as possible straight away” advises Richard Waters, Managing Director of Row.co.uk

“If you have insurance, make a note of any damage and call them as soon as possible. At Row.co.uk we offer a 24 hour phone line with our home emergency cover, meaning customers can get support no matter the time of day or night and repairs can be arranged immediately”

The second biggest fear found by the study was vermin infestation (22%), followed by electricity and/or water supply issues (15%), roofing problems (13%), and getting locked out (12%).

Surprisingly, boiler breakdown was noted as the least of people’s concerns (9%) despite boiler repairs often costing hundreds and in unfortunate circumstances, costing upward of £1,000 to replace.

The second half of the study looked into how much money Brits put aside each month to deal with home emergencies. A massive 47% of respondents, representing 17.8 million British adults, claimed to put absolutely nothing aside.

11% of us save £1 - £14 each month specifically for these things, while 16% of us put aside £15 - £25. A little over a quarter of us put aside more than £26.

These shocking figures highlight the importance of getting home emergency and boiler cover. For the price of a cup of coffee per week, insurance provides you with the peace of mind that when things go wrong, someone’s got your back!



MEDIA INFORMATION
- James.Holden@Emailbig.co.uk
- Survey of 2,000 Brits.
- Survey details available, please ask.
- Please note the link to our infographic about this study and consider using.