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Beauty blunders cause £900 million of damage to homes
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A new report from Shelias’ Wheels home insurance has revealed that beauty products and gadgets caused a whopping £900m worth of damage in UK homes last year. Would your home insurance cover you for accidental beauty blunders?
With more and more Brits turning to home beauty treatments in a bid to save time and money, it’s no surprise that furniture and furnishings are also getting an unexpected and unwelcome makeover in the process.
According to research from Shelias’ Wheels home insurance, beauty products and gadgets caused an average of £153 worth of damage in UK households last year. The credit crunch has led to nearly a third of those polled to increase the amount of home beauty treatments and pampering they indulge in, rather than splashing out on a trip to the professionals.
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Households in the North caused the most damage, with an average of £172 per household, while almost 50% of Scots surveyed revealed that their beauty errors had cost up to £500 to repair the damage.
Of those surveyed, a whopping 28% admitted that their DIY treatments had caused damage to their home. Unsurprisingly, carpets appear to be the biggest victim, with a whopping 85% owning up to damaging them with curling tongs, 73% spilling hair dye, and 72% ruining carpets with nail varnish.
The Top 10 beauty “dangers” to homes, according to the survey, are: nail varnish, hair dye, hair straighteners, mascara, foundation, fake tan, lipstick, hair dryer, curling tongs and perfume.
Despite heated appliances like straighteners and tongs posing the highest risk to homes and their contents, 43% of UK homeowners admitted to forgetting to turn them off after they had finished with them.
Jacky Brown of Shelias’ Wheels home insurance warns: “To save the pennies, more of us are now using beauty gadgets, products and treatments at home rather than paying a professional. But any DIY pampering sessions come with their risks.
“Dyes, lotions and cosmetics can stain and many hair-styling gadgets can reach extremely high temperatures and may cause considerable damage if left on accidentally. That’s why having accidental damage cover added onto your home can be invaluable – as beauty blunders become more commonplace.”
And don’t think because you’re not into home pampering yourself that you’re immune to the problem. Watch out for damage caused by your guests: 20% of those surveyed admitted to causing damage in someone else’s home and not owning up to it.
30 April 2009
