Six lessons you need to learn from EastEnders

Explosions, car crashes, burglaries... the action never ends when you're in a soap opera. Here are six lessons you can learn from your favourite soap.

Many of us love a good soap opera. Whether you can’t stop your addiction to EastEnders, love nothing better than snuggling up with a cuppa and an episode of Coronation Street, or simply never miss an episode of Emmerdale, there’s something very therapeutic about catching up with your favourite soap.

But believe it or not, soaps can actually teach us a thing or two about money – in particular, insurance.

According to research by esure, Britain’s favourite soaps have racked up over £1 million of damage in the last three years, with Coronation Street the most claim-prone, with a whopping £315,620 bill! Meanwhile, EastEnders had the highest crime rate, with £70,145 worth of criminal damage.

So just what have they been claiming for? Read on to find out.

The top soap damage disasters

If you’re curious to know more about the type of insurance claims your favourite soap stars are likely to make, the table below highlights the top damage disasters in four of Britain’s favourite soaps:

As you can see, the insurance bills are pretty expensive! So let’s take a look at six top lessons to learn from our daily soap-watching.

Lesson #1: Don’t scrimp on your car insurance

Car insurance might be expensive, but it’s a legal requirement. Of course, one way to reduce the cost is to only choose third party cover. But if you go for this option, you’ll only be covered for claims made by another person(s) for damage caused by your car – so your own car won’t be covered.

Of course, if you’ve got some old banger that’s worth absolutely nothing, this option might be satisfactory. But if not, it’s worth paying higher premiums to ensure you’re fully covered.

Fully comprehensive cover will give you the whole package and will cover you for any damage caused to your car, and other cars that might be damaged by yours if you have a soap-style crash. It will also cover you for injury to yourself or others. Find out more in Choose the right car insurance policy.

Lesson #2: Protect against fire

I have to say that one of my greatest fears is fire. The idea of my home burning down (particularly with me in it) absolutely terrifies me. Of course, if I lived in Hollyoaks Village, the chance of this happening would probably be far greater, as anyone who’s recently watched Hollyoaks will know.

To make sure you’re alerted to any signs of fire, install a smoke alarm in your home. These are really quite cheap – you can pick up a standard smoke alarm from Homebase for £4.68. It’s a good idea to have at least one downstairs and at least one upstairs and make sure you test them on a weekly basis. After all, this could save your life.

Lesson #3: Don’t let the burglars in!

Thanks to shorter days and darker evenings, burglaries are on the rise. Fortunately there are plenty of measures you can take to help deter burglars from breaking into your home (and no, I don't mean hiring Phil Mitchell to stand guard).

One way to put them off is to add gravel to your garden as this will make a loud crunching sound if burglars try to get anywhere near your home. Secure fencing and security lights are also a good idea and you may also want to fit a burglar alarm to your home. This is likely to bring down your home insurance premiums too, although the initial cost of an alarm can be expensive.

And don’t forget to join your local Neighbourhood Watch Scheme. For more tips, read The top 10 burglary hotspots.

Lesson #4: Don’t underinsure your possessions

Whether it’s through fire or burglary, losing your possessions is likely to be a horrific experience. And it would be even worse if you were inadequately insured.

If you’re not sure how to work out whether or not you’re sufficiently covered, this clever home contents calculator from NFU Mutual should help you assess exactly what you’re possessions are worth. It guides you through each room in your house, and all you need to do is add in the value of your belongings.

For buildings insurance, you need to make sure you enter the rebuild value, not the market value. The rebuild value (the cost of materials, labour and other fees to rebuild the property if it were knocked down) is not the same as its market value (the amount that it can be sold for), so make sure you know the difference between them, or you could be over insuring your property.

You can ask your insurer to do this for you based on standard assumptions, or use this house rebuilding costs calculator from the Association of British Insurers.

Lesson #4: Prepare yourself for floods

Over the past few years, we’ve seen some terrible floods up and down the country. So if you know your home is susceptible, make sure you take preventative measures.

The Environment Agency website has some really handy tips such as buying purpose-built flood boards that can be installed when needed, fixing your TV to the wall about 1.5 metres above floor level, and fitting a pump to extract flood water. You can read more about them here.

It’s also a good idea to check your home insurance policy carefully to find out exactly what you’re covered for.

Lesson #5: Insure your belongings outside the home

No one particularly relishes the idea of being mugged on the street. Sadly, it’s not just in Albert Square that it happens. So make sure you’re fully covered and take out personal possessions cover with your home insurance to ensure your belongings will still be covered when you step foot out of your home.

Try to avoid carrying too many valuable items and cash around with you, and if you’re female, only carry the essentials in your handbag. It’s a good idea to leave at least one of your debit or credit cards at home so that you’ll still have access to your money if disaster strikes.

Find out more in Six steps to avoid financial heartbreak.

Lesson #6: Don't think it will never happen to you

Of course, it’s easy to assume that you’re far more likely to need to make a claim on your insurance if you live in a soap opera. But that doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen to you. So never scrimp on insurance, always make sure you're adequately covered, and always take preventative measures to fight back against disaster!

Let’s just hope the soap stars are reading this too...

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