Cost of repairing toddler damage costs millions

Destructive preschoolers are running up astronomical repair bills. According to a report by Abbey Insurance, British adults spend over £552 million dealing with chaos caused by kids.

Over the last twelve months, more than 2.5 million homes have been damaged by children and parents are footing the bill. More than a third of parents confessed to paying for breakages their children caused around the home and 21% of parents believed their tiny saboteurs had done the damage on purpose.

Out of the 700 homes surveyed, the average bill for child-inflicted repairs was £221. Common incidents included broken ornaments and furniture, and damage to paintwork or wallpaper. Toddlers are the most likely to cause destruction, with 23% of damage down to them. Second-worst are six to ten year-olds (22%).

Any parents of Scottish boys under five should beware, as the survey found boys are twice as likely break things as girls and the average repair bill north of the border was a whopping £625!

Tony Beckwith, Head of Santander Insurance UK (which has acquired Abbey Insurance) commented 'Dealing with the damage caused by children can be inconvenient, costly and cause unwanted tension if people do not have the appropriate level of insurance cover'. We can only agree!

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