Insurers fear a smashing World Cup
Britain’s biggest household insurer says it saw a 25 per cent increase in claims for broken glass during the last World Cup and fears football fans may cause similar damage during the 2010 World Cup , which starts on Friday.
Now householders may see red when they learn that many claims will be refused unless they pay £30 a year extra for additional cover against accidental damage.
Aviva , formerly known as Norwich Union, reckons the average broken glass claim during the 2006 World Cup cost £600 to put right. Greenhouses, conservatories, sheds and house windows were the most common mistaken targets and children the main culprits.
Nor is Aviva alone in identifying the World Cup as a risk. Santander – which owns Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley’s savings subsidiary – said that even football fans who do not stray from the sofa often damage their property. Santander claims that more than a fifth of households – 22 per cent – have seen friends or family spill food or drink while watching sport on TV; and football accounted for more than half of these.


Heather Ward, 41, an insurance consultant from Cardiff, says: 'I transferred my Santander cash Isa from a variable to a fixedrate deal with the bank by and more »