July 2006

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Over 1.7 million* Brits have trust abused by 'non-residents' in their homes

OVER 1.7 MILLION* BRITS HAVE TRUST ABUSED BY ‘NON- RESIDENTS’ IN THEIR HOMES

- Four in ten people (38 per cent) give non-residents their own house key
- A reckless 13 per cent did not know their non-residents at all before allowing access
- One in seven (14 per cent) of those have had their trust abused – for example, homes damaged, food eaten and the telephone used by non-residents.

More than 7.7 million trusting Brits (27 per cent of all working adults) are allowing relative strangers such as window cleaners, builders, and utility trades-people (electricity, gas, phone etc) to come and go unsupervised in their homes, according to new research by leading home insurer MORE TH>N.

Nearly four in ten (38 per cent) have even entrusted non-residents with their own set of keys despite almost one million people (13 per cent) revealing that they did not know them at all before allowing them access.

Nearly a quarter of all working adults (24 per cent) have a non-resident in their home at least once a month, and 11 per cent of these do at least once a week. Worryingly, one in seven people (14 per cent) who have given non-residents keys have found this trust abused.

Top offences include:
- One in seven (14 per cent) have had their homes damaged and goods stolen by non-residents
- Six per cent of non-residents have helped themselves to food and drink without permission
- One in twenty non-residents (5 per cent) left home alone have used the telephone, invited people over, or skived off when they should have been working
- 220,646 people (3 per cent) believe they have had cash or personal belongings stolen by non-residents
- 73,548 people (1 per cent) have had personal items like clothes borrowed by the person they had contracted to work for them.

The MORE TH>N survey reveals that most Brits take the tough approach to abuse of trust. Almost one in four (19 per cent) gave the offender a formal warning and more than a quarter (27 per cent) had a stern chat. A whopping one in five (22 per cent) took the Alan Sugar approach, telling the non-resident “you’re fired”.

Craig Allen, home product manager for MORE TH>N, commented: “Long working hours, lengthy commutes and active social lives all contribute to a need to enlist help in and around the home. However, it would seem that we may have become too trusting in our attitudes to strangers.”

The most common non-residents to spend time in British homes routinely are window cleaners (14 per cent), plumbers (7 per cent), utility trades-people (7 per cent) and house cleaners (5 per cent). A further 2 per cent of people enlist the help of child minders, who often spend entire working days in and around the home on a regular basis.

When asked who they would most trust if they had to hire someone ‘blind’ on moving to a new town where they didn’t know anyone, utilities people (power, gas, phone etc) came out on top at 17 per cent, followed by child minders (9 per cent). 60 per cent of people said they would not fully trust anybody.

Allen continues: “In an ideal world we would be able to trust anyone we choose. However, in the unfortunate event that someone you trust does let you down by damaging your property or stealing from your home, it’s vital that you have home insurance to cover the cost. Six per cent of the people we surveyed said they had made an insurance claim following an incident with a non-resident. We advise people to contract help through professional organisations for added peace of mind”.

For more information on MORE TH>N’s home insurance, visit www.morethan.com or phone 0800 107 1905.

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