♪ On the 12th Day of Christmas, State Revealed to Me: A Surge in Tech Claims and a Runaway Turkey.
Mobile phone claims have overtaken cooking-related incidents in as the top claimed for contents item in State’s 12 Claims of Christmas. With fewer cooking disasters, technology claims surged, making up 46% of the Christmas contents claims lodged last year.
Smartphones, tablets, laptops, wireless headphones and wearable tech, make up nearly half of all claims on Christmas Day, up 15% on the previous year. Smartphone claims alone are up 36% on Christmas Day, compared with any other time of year.
State’s Executive General Manager Claims, Wayne Tippet says: “Our data clearly shows what we’ve long suspected - that Christmas is far from a risk-free event, and that’s especially true for the care we take with our tech while trying to manage and multi-task.”
“People are cooking, hosting, seeing to kids and the rellies, and handling events for the big day. They may be checking and rechecking recipes on their phone while standing over the sink, rushing to answer the door or fishing kids or pets out of the pool with devices in-hand. So, it’s not really that surprising that when things go wrong people need to claim tech on their contents insurance, to get connected again.”
State’s 12 Claims of Christmas*
TVs, tablets and mobiles taking out top spot
New Zealanders are finding new and festive means to lose or damage devices at Christmas.
“Each year State handles multiple reports of kids accidently destroying TVs by throwing toys, gaming controllers, or once, a terrifying, scissor-flinging toddler eagerly opening Christmas presents,” says Wayne Tippet.
New Zealanders are regularly leaving phones and tablets to fall off the car roof, in their haste to pack presents, food and family and get to the main event. Tablets in toilets, mobile phones off the side of boats and devices left in the sun and sand, are also commonly reported.
“With indoor-outdoor flow in full-festive flight, we’ve seen birds getting inside to set-off bigger pets in wild rampages around the house, in turn bumping up technology claims, particularly involving our precious and pricey Smart TVs.”
Homes taking a hammering
Interestingly, accidents in the home at Christmas are showing up in home insurance claims, as the leading cause of damage on Christmas Day.
“Kiwi homes are taking a hammering at Christmas too. Accidental damage causing loss accounts for half of all claims lodged at Christmas, so it’s clear that the chaos of coming together at Christmas has an impact on our carefully curated homes. Accidental damage rises by nearly a third on Christmas Day, compared to an average day outside the festive season.”
Taking a quick dive into the data, and it’s clear that decorations and yuletide yeehaw is causing chaos in the home.
“One memorable Christmas, a family had to make a claim for a new lounge suite after an errant candle set their wreath ablaze, and the fire extinguisher sprayed molten wax everywhere.
“Over the years, State has seen multiple claims for cracked glass tables, kitchen tiles, hobs and cooktops, the result of the mishandling of rock-solid frozen turkeys. Last year, we even had a real-life runaway turkey who smashed through a ranch slider, no doubt in fear for its life during this risky time of year”.
Caught red-pawed
The State data shows that flooring, bedding and carpet seemingly make for the purr-fect bathrooms, chew-toys or the ideal spot for dogs and cats to cough up all those goodies they swiped off coffee tables while no one was looking.
Claims for damaged rugs, carpets, and linens jumped three spots on the Christmas claims list, and the average claim cost for a pet-related incident reached above $3,000.
Downing the Christmas tree, smashing windows, swiping spectacles and hearing aids, and anxious mess-making while sheltering from loud firework booms, topped off pet damage claims.
Tech targeted at campsites
As families load up the campers and chilly bins, New Zealanders may like to reconsider packing their latest purchases and valuables. Lost jewellery, hearing aids gone swimming and broken reading glasses are all common amongst claims made by tenting-types. Campers have even reported the theft of fishing rods and tackle from crafty crims.
Weather-related damage to tents, marquees and gazebos, and malfunctioning beach buggies are all mentioned amongst camping-related claims.
Young people taking off on their first festival may also want to think-ahead about the kinds of things they leave behind in the tent while they’re out checking out the line-up, says Wayne.
“We often hear about campgrounds and festivalgoers being targeted for theft of tech, clothes and even make-up, while they’re out making the most of the day.”
Top tips in surviving the season intact:
*State’s 12 Claims of Christmas retrieved from contents claims data where damage and loss occurred on Christmas Day, 2023.
*Holiday trends tracked 26 December 2023 – 31st January 2024, comparative to 26 December 2022 – 31st January 2023.