Four disasters that will ruin your Bank Holiday

Don't let your Bank Holiday break get wrecked by these royal disasters...

Did you spot it and book it off before anyone else could? Or did some quick-witted wise guy get there before you?

Yes, the flurry of public holidays that kicks off next week means that all you need to do to seal 11 days straight out of the office is book three days off. If you don’t believe me, read this!

But even if you didn’t manage to capitalise on this Bank Holiday bonus, you should still have a couple of long weekends heading your way over the next fortnight thanks to Easter and the Royal wedding.

Yet while pubs are predicting a rise in Brits celebrating Will and Kate getting hitched, insurance companies are also predicting a rise in claims.

Why? Well here are four reasons...

Empty homes

AXA predicts that four in ten of us will be out of our homes for the Royal wedding with many more planning a longer getaway at some point over the Bank Holiday period. All of these empty properties will provide bumper pickings for burglars, eager to trouser a king’s ransom over the Royal weekend.

In fact, further AXA stats show that burglars are now upping their thieving on days when the most number of people will be away from their home, with levels of theft rising by up to 50% on days such as Halloween, Bonfire Night and New Year’s Eve.

The modern infatuation for social networking is another source of information for burglars. As I reported last year in How your phone spies on you, thieves will now ‘farm’ the internet looking for information concerning your whereabouts. As a consequence, what starts as an innocent Facebook brag about your Easter holidays or Royal wedding plans could quickly turn into an invite for burglars to target your empty home.

The obvious way to avoid this is to simply never publish your whereabouts or holiday plans online. You should also avoid leaving your address and photos of your home on any website – as these can help burglars plan a robbery.

Informing your neighbours if you are heading out over the Bank Holiday breaks so they can keep an eye on your home is always a good idea, as is leaving a light or two on (or leaving them on a timer) and not shutting all of your curtains.

And I don’t need to tell you that locking your home up thoroughly and using any alarms and security lights are always a must!

Uninvited party guests

If you aren’t heading out for the Royal wedding, then there's a decent chance you may be holding a party of your own. AXA predicts that 21% of us will be throwing open our doors to friends and family over the Royal wedding weekend.

If you’re one of these people, you should watch out for uninvited guests who are eager to crash your party and help themselves to your possessions. Almost two thirds of people will leave a door to their property open when hosting a party, giving the perfect opportunity for a thief to run into your home and get grabbing. So, unless you can keep a constant eye on any unlocked doors – keep them closed!

Making sure you have adequate contents insurance in place will also help you avoid a Bank Holiday nightmare. Read all the policy small print and check the exclusions and single item claim limits. You may often find that expensive and especially vulnerable items such as laptops, mobile phones and bicycles are not included in your cover.

Checking if your contents insurance covers the possessions of other people is also important in case anything belonging to your party guests goes missing.

Careless friends

Even if you do keep out any thieving guests from your party, there’s still no guarantee that your nearest and dearest won’t cause you a Bank Holiday headache. Especially if your friends and family are as clumsy as mine!

AXA stats show that social gatherings around Christmas and New Year’s Eve see home insurance claims for accidents rise by 12%. The August Bank Holiday is even more damaging with claims increasing by 19%.

So if you’re planning a party over the coming weeks it’s essential to check that accidental damage protection is built into your contents insurance policy. Most basic cover doesn’t include it and not adding it on could cost you big in the event of spillages, smashes and other pesky party mishaps.

Of course, hiding any valuable and breakable items before the party and covering up expensive furniture, flooring and carpets is also a good way to avoid accidents!

BBQ disasters

After the warm weather that’s swept the country over the last few weeks, I’m sure I’m not the only one hoping for a couple of BBQ-friendly Bank Holiday weekends. But if you do fire the barbie up – or indeed, use candles, fireworks or any other potentially dangerous item – you need to act with care, especially if you’ve been drinking alcohol.

You should also ensure you have personal liability cover built into your home insurance and check through the small print to find any exclusions. If you’re planning a huge Bank Holiday bash, it mfay be worth taking out public liability cover – as you could be liable for a personal injury is someone is hurt as a result of your celebrations.

And finally for some more information on getting the cheapest and best home insurance read Don’t make this home insurance mistake.

More: Compare home insurance with lovemoney.com | Protect your home from costly winter crises | The unluckiest address in Britain