New research find Newcastle is the service capital of Britain

• One in three people living in Britain (34 per cent) now pays for hired help.
• The belief that someone else could do a better job is the reason most people use hired help (43 per cent)
• Newcastle is the service capital of the UK, with nearly half (47 per cent) relying on help in one or several aspects of their lives
• Window cleaners are the most popular form of hired help
   

Downton Abbey or Two Up Two Downton? New research from Privilege Home Insurance has revealed that Newcastle is the service capital of the UK, with 47 per cent of households relying on additional support, such as house cleaning, child minding and gardening. Newcastle is followed by Belfast (41 per cent) and Southampton (40 per cent).

Residents in Nottingham are willing to spend the most in the quest for extra help, with an average spend per month of £150 – a staggering 65 per cent more than the next most spendthrift city, London. London spends an average of £52 a month on hired help, followed by Cardiff at £48.
 

Hired Help Capitals 

Source: Privilege Home Insurance

A belief that someone else could do a better job (43 per cent), a belief that they are hopeless at doing it themselves (22 per cent), laziness at doing it themselves (18 per cent) and not having time due to working hours (16 per cent) have been named as the contributing causes to growth in the sector.

The most popular forms of hired help include window cleaners, gardeners, decorators and house cleaners.
 

Most popular forms of hired help

Source: Privilege Home Insurance

With one in three people having some form of hired help in their homes, Privilege warns that it is important for householders to make note of keys they have provided.

Having multiple copies of keys can increase the risk of burglaries and also leaves a potential hidden cost of having to change the locks after termination of employment to preserve the potential of disgruntled ex-employees accessing the home.  
 

Christian Mendes, head of Privilege home insurance, said:

“Modern life is busier than ever, and everyone feels like they are working harder for longer. As we value our time more each day, we thought it would be interesting to find out where people pay for help to create more time to do what they choose.

“It shows that people care about their homes and like to make sure that they are kept to a certain standard. However, with all these additional people in our homes, our data highlights the importance of having a reliable insurance policy in place to cover your home in the case of accidental damage or, in the worst case, if your keys were to get into the wrong hands.”
 

In cases involving paid employees with access to the home, any claims made will be subject to the level of cover possessed by the homeowner. Any deliberate acts of theft or damage by staff will not be covered by an insurance policy. Everything but cash, additionally, is covered in the instance of a theft, fire or flood that occurs as a result of an error caused by an employee. Key cover will allow for the replacement of lost or stolen keys by a member of staff, and a genuine error that results in damage to the property will be covered if the homeowner possesses accidental damage cover.
 

ENDS
 

For more information, please contact: Fran Langdon at Richmond & Towers: 

fran@rtc.london / 020 3179 0720

Notes to editors:

Research carried out amongst a nationally representative sample of 2,004 UK adults by Opinium Research between 9 and 12 February 2018.  Some city statistics indicative due to low sample sizes.

Privilege

Privilege Insurance specialises in car insurance for safe drivers. It also offers home insurance and breakdown cover by phone or on-line.

Privilege general insurance policies are underwritten by U K Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England and Wales No 1179980. U K Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Privilege and UK Insurance Limited are both part of Direct Line Insurance Group plc.  

Customers can find out more about Privilege’s products or get a quote by calling 0345 246 0515 or visiting www.privilege.co.uk