Damage to household contents by children accounts for 10 per cent of claims says New Zealand's AA Insurance.
Contents claims totalling $30 million have been processed by the insurer over the past 12 months, $3 million of that figure directly caused by kid-related chaos, the insurer said in a statement today.
Customer Relations Manager, Amelia Macandrew, says the claims team has seen it all, from phones being thrown down toilets, to every kind of liquid and solid dropped on laptop keyboards.
Examples from the company’s claims data and annual Lifestyle Survey include a customer whose daughter didn’t see the laptop sitting on the lounge floor until she accidentally stood on it, broke it and caused $500 worth of damage.
Another customer’s daughter decided to water the plants she saw on-screen, which caused the TV’s demise worth several thousand dollars.
In another incident, a toddler took a pen and scribbled on $700 white leather chairs, while another creative two-year-old took on some interior decorating at her grandparents’, using a pen and lipstick on the new blinds causing $450 worth of damage.
But it wasn't just the little ones who were responsible for damaging their parents' property, Teenagers have also caused a few headaches too.
While conducting a science experiment on the stove, things took a turn for the worst for one customer’s son. The experiment exploded and burnt the flooring and three cupboards causing almost $22,000 worth of damage.
Another customer’s kids were wrestling in the spa pool when their moves got a bit rough. They managed to cause over $20,000 worth of damage by cracking the pool’s fibreglass lining.
"While some incidents are relatively small and don’t take much to rectify, others are a life lesson in expensive mistakes,” says Ms Macandrew.
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