Burglary, water leaks and fire damage are Brits’ biggest fears when it comes to safety at home - but millions are turning to smart tech to try and ward off disaster.
A study of 2,000 homeowners found adults blame themselves as the biggest cause of home disasters, followed by mischievous pets and children's misadventures.
But 15 per cent believe issues in their home - such as accidental damage or chaos caused by pets - could be prevented with some additional tech.
And 27 per cent claim they'd feel less anxious if they had smart tech such as a doorbell system, inside and outside CCTV and water leak detectors.
It also emerged homeowners have typically spent £255 in the past five years on repairing or replacing things due to damage, which could have been saved by technology.
Matt Poll, managing director at Sky Protect, a smart home protection service offering comprehensive home insurance and smart home tech that work together in one app, which commissioned the research, said: “Our research underlines the concerns that many people have about keeping their home and belongings safe.
“There’s plenty that can go wrong, from pipes bursting to pets chewing up the sofa - and the sooner you can get a handle on it, the better.
“The results also highlight how millions of people across the country are totally disillusioned with their current home insurance.
“We want to get people reengaged, so we’ve used innovative tech to develop a service that customers can benefit from every single day.”
The study also found 21 per cent of adults admitted they didn’t read any of the T&Cs from their home insurance provider when signing on the dotted line.
And 27 per cent don’t know how to make a claim on their current home insurance policy.
But 48 per cent rank their home and belongings among their top priorities in life - above wealth and career, according to the OnePoll.com figures.
However, homeowners admit to spending more time researching a mobile phone upgrade (three hours) or new furniture (five hours) than their home insurance (two hours).
Of those who have had damage to the home but didn’t end up claiming on their home insurance, 42 per cent didn’t think it was worth their time or effort.
While 20 per cent weren’t sure what they were actually covered for.
Home insurance also topped a list of the most boring things to talk about with other people - ahead of diets, traffic and the weather.
Ellie Taylor, comedian, actor and best-selling author, has been working with Sky to modernise classic fairy tales with a smart tech twist for the launch of Sky Protect.
She said: “Let’s be honest, insurance is traditionally pretty dull.
"So, it’s been nice injecting a bit of fun into the topic of home insurance.
“When you think about the things that are most important in your life, you start to realise how important it is to have effective home protection in place.”
