Traditionally the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas may be a little different this year as many of us may not be spending the festive season with loved ones. Unfortunately, the Christmas holiday season can still lead to festive fiascos that we don’t need to happen to us.
Aviva Insurance Ireland DAC reveals below a number of regular annual household claims’ notifications that it sees at this time of year so that customers may be on their guard as we near the big day:
- Feet put through ceilings while customers were searching around in their attics for Christmas decorations.
- Theft of Christmas presents from homes and cars, which can be very distressing for customers.
- Cracked TVs, knocked over while excited customers were putting up (or taking down) the Christmas trees and decorations. Imagine missing out on all those Christmas movies!
- Fires, caused by candles, tea-lights and overheated Christmas tree and other lights in our homes that add to our sense of the celebrations ahead.
- Escape of Water, caused by freezing pipes, which can be particularly devastating if customers are away for the holiday period (perhaps not so much an issue this year)
- And cases of impact damage to garden and house walls due to cars, or perhaps Santa’s sleigh crashing into houses, after skidding on ice covered driveways.
Although Christmas may be somewhat different for all of us this year, we still want to enjoy it and most households are planning to celebrate and are looking forward to the festivities, particularly after a difficult and stressful year. Our experience shows us, that some specific claims have a habit of cropping up at this time of year, with fires, thefts and escape of water when temperatures drop below freezing, being some of the regular occurrences encountered by our customers.
David Lyons, Property Claims Manager, Aviva Insurance Ireland
Aviva offers the following advice to all home insurance customers who should take extra care at this time of year to guard against the following:
- If away, time heating to come on/off to protect against freezing pipes. Leave attic hatch door open to allow heat into your attic space to prevent pipes in attic from freezing. If planning to be away for a long period of time during the winter months, you should drain your tank and turn the mains water feed off at the stopcock.
- Be careful not to leave candles and Christmas lights on while not at home, or overnight
- Be mindful of your home security and don’t be complacent while you are celebrating Christmas