POUND NOTES
MASSIVE HIKE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE RENTING THEIR HOMES
THE number of households renting in the UK has shot up 63%, official figures reveal.
In 2007 there were 2.8 million renting households – and that has risen to 4.5 million, according to the Office for National Statistics.
And, worryingly, two out of three renters risk not being able to replace their possessions if they were damaged or stolen because they don’t have contents insurance.
Young tenants are particularly at risk because more than two out of five rent, and 75% of this group don’t have home contents cover.
The main reason renters don’t have cover is because two in five think it is too expensive, while a quarter of people don’t think their possessions are worth enough to insure them.
Jeremy Ward, head of home insurance at Halifax which carried out the research, said: “Renters can easily fall into the trap of taking out insurance for only their prized possessions, such as a phone and laptop, but not taking out contents insurance as they don’t see the benefit of traditional policies.
“But when the cost of these individual polices is added up, people can end up spending more on several policies than on a single contents policy which would cover more than just those items.”
PENSIONERS KEEPING A SECRET CASH STASH TO HELP CHILDREN
ONE million over-65s have an emergency secret savings account to help grown-up children with money worries.
Parents keep the cash secret from their kids because they think if they knew about it they would either be less responsible with money or pressure them to dish it out.
Research from Saga says the average amount stashed away is £11,500.
Almost half parents surveyed said they dip into their savings at least once or twice a year to help support their adult children.