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Household Bills

Got a cleaner or a nanny? Check qualifications before letting people into your home

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
08/09/2016

Many people pay for help but neglect to check the qualifications and insurance of those working at their home, putting them at risk.

Almost 16 million Brits hire in-help to take care of mundane household tasks, according to Direct Line’s Select Premier Insurance.

Nearly a third (31%) of people rely on external help to tackle household chores, with window cleaning the most popular (18%), followed by gardening (8%).

Childcare is the service that people are willing to spend the most to outsource (£63.26 per week), while one in 20 Brits pay an average of £27 per week for ironing services.

Check them out

Childcare (43%) is the external supplier where people are most likely to check qualifications and insurance, however more than two fifths (44%) said they would hire an external service and invite them into their home without checking their insurance cover.

More than nine million Brits now have food delivered to their homes while almost six million have the hairdresser visit their house rather than visiting a salon.

Nick Brabham, head of Select Premier Insurance, said: “Many people have busy working lives with limited downtime, so it’s understandable that they would want to source external help for the most time consuming or least favourite household chores.

“It is alarming that many people do not always check out qualifications and insurance cover when they hire help. In the instance that people may have multiple suppliers coming into their home, it’s important they check credentials to ensure they are not at risk if something goes wrong.”