Latest news with #homerepairs
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Children drawing on walls and dropping toys in the loo costs parents millions
The school holidays can be a joyful round of picnics, bike rides and trips to the seaside with your little ones. But that joy turns quickly to despair at home when their need to let off steam leads to graffiti on the walls, food blocking the washing machine and toys stuck in the U-bend. In fact, the havoc they wreak costs all parents millions a year in home repairs, a survey has found. The school break is the peak period for such mishaps, with 57 per cent of parents saying they faced substantial bills. Almost seven in ten – 67 per cent – said their children had drawn pictures on walls and furniture, and 43 per cent had to call in a plumber after toys got stuck in the loo. Meanwhile, 47 per cent said appliances had to be fixed after porridge, marmalade, custard and other food got stuck in games consoles and DVD players, and 40 per cent said fluids such as milk had found their way into hifi speakers and washing machines. The holiday mayhem doesn't end there, with 42 per cent saying their offspring had caused flooding by leaving taps running, while 20 per cent said a child had switched the heating on in the summer. In fact, the havoc they wreak costs all parents millions a year in home repairs, a survey has found Another seven per cent said children had caused costly bills by using sofas and beds as trampolines, breaking windows and flooding the garden with the garden hose. The average bill is £265 each time something goes wrong, with 36 per cent of people having to call in a professional to repair the damage. Another 12 per cent call a friend or relative to help, and eight per cent make an insurance claim. Liam Sharkey, from the home-assistance firm HomeServe, which carried out the survey of 2,000 British parents, said: 'These mishaps are more common than you'd think, and often catch parents off guard. Kid disasters bring most mayhem in the holidays. It only takes a moment for a small accident to turn into a costly repair.'
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Young Americans are risking their most valuable asset with dangerous financial move
Gen Z Americans are skipping insurance claims and performing critical home repairs themselves as costs soar. One in three young homeowners - those born between 1997 and 2012 - say they are skipping insurance claims out of fear their homes will not pass inspection, according to new data from insurance agency Guardian Service. Instead two in three are opting to take on major home repairs themselves to save money. 'Many homeowners are living on borrowed time and borrowed trust, we're seeing financial strain and home safety come head-to-head,' home insurance expert Kara Credle from Guardian Service told Credle says a dangerous 'knowledge gap' is fueling the trend. Many homeowners don't realize that avoiding vital repair work such as roof work could make their home insurance premiums more expensive and even cancel their coverage, Credle warned. 'Homeownership is no longer the financial safe haven it used to be.' Some 71 percent of homeowners are unaware that making home upgrades can lower insurance premiums, the data revealed. Gen Z are taking on major home repairs themselves to save money With many Gen Z homeowners one emergency away from financial disaster, these findings point to systemic risks for the housing and insurance markets. Millions are living in under-maintained homes, quietly hiding what's behind the walls while hoping nothing goes wrong. Gen Z currently make up just 3 percent of all homebuyers in the US, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Gen Z are burdened by large student loans as well as sky high rents, leaving little income left over to save towards the costs of homeownership. 'Two-thirds of homeowners had their renovation budgets wiped out in 2025,' Credle added. 'This is a sign that we've moved beyond belt-tightening into financial survival.' At the same time house prices have rocketed to new highs, rising roughly 50 percent since 2020. Mortgage rates, which remain stubbornly high at around 7 percent, also make monthly payments too much for many younger workers. The median home price in the US is also more than $403,000, making a 20 percent deposit a tough ask for many too. 71 percent of homeowners are unaware making home upgrades can lower premiums 'The cost of homes is substantially higher than it was for previous generations, and you may not see as many starter homes being built or becoming available,' Nikki Beauchamp, from Sotheby's Realty, told Fortune. 'Add to that the student loan debt, and in general, it has been my observation that as a result they have much higher debt than my generation [Gen X] did at that age.' To add insult to injury, baby boomers are further pricing Gen Z out of home ownership by swooping in with all-cash offers and bigger down payments. With decades of savings from low mortgage rates, boomers have overtaken Millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z in home purchases. For young families who still want to make a go of home ownership, help from the bank of mom and dad is a popular solution. For others the option is to move to a more affordable area, such as Wichita, Kansas, which was recently named the most affordable US city.
