Off On Holiday? Then Get Home Insurance

A report from Halifax Home insurance suggests that more than 1m holidaymakers return home to find:

• their homes burgled
• vandalised
• spoilt by burst pipes
• damaged by storms
• fire damaged

The annual repair bill from the above and others is expected to be as much as £2.3 billion this year the bank said. Unfortunately for homeowners in The Midlands, they are most likely to return home to encounter a disaster of some sort whilst Scots are least likely to.

So, either move to Scotland or make sure that your home insurance is up-to-date! And while we're on the topic did you know that if you still have home insurance from the bank or building society that provided your mortgage then the chances are you'll find cheaper cover elsewhere?

Cash machines and ill winds

Following on from unlikely corporate excuses like leaves on the line, the wrong type of rain and the like, Halifax came up with a corker last week.

Last Thursday, people using some Halifax cash machines had their cards swallowed by the hole in the wall machine due to a technical glitch. Upon contacting a presumably busy customer helpline they were told that was all down to the strong wind conditions.

An official spokesperson subsequently confirmed that the wind wasn't really the cause, it was just an off the cuff remark from a call centre operative that spread rapidly.