ONE IN TWO TRADESMEN 'OFF DUTY' THIS BANK HOLIDAY
- Half of all tradesmen will not be doing bank holiday callout - even in emergencies
- Those calling out tradesmen face a 13% premiums on call-out costs alone
- Londoners most likely to struggle to find a tradesmen
- Midlands and Wales face highest premiums of 29%
Finding a plumber, electrician or glazier on Bank Holiday Monday is likely to send those suffering DIY disasters 'round the bend' according to a poll of tradesmen conducted by Homeserve, the national home emergency service.
Recent reports suggest that many people will be economising by staying home this weekend, and as many of 22 per cent * of people turning their hand to work around the home. According to Homeserve those who experience the most common DIY disasters such as nails through water pipes, cut cables or broken windows will struggle to find someone to right their wrongs. Almost half (51%) of all tradesmen will be off duty over the bank holiday weekend, with this figure rising to 57 per cent in London.
The research found that those tradesmen charging a call-out fee over the bank holiday will pay an average fee of £51 for a tradesman to set foot inside their door. This is 13 per cent more than the average call-out fee charged on a weekday (£45). According to Homeserve, calls to its own home emergency insurance hotline increase by an average of 25 per cent over the bank holiday period.
The research suggests that finding a plumber will prove slightly easier than an electrician - around 51 per cent of plumbers work on bank holiday weekends compared to around 45 per cent of electricians.
Jon Florsheim, CEO of Homeserve Membership commented: "Bank holidays have always been amongst the busiest in the year for keen DIYers and this weekend will be no exception with many people planning to stay home and save money. The best way to ensure that you are not caught out paying inflated premiums or worse still not being able to find any help, is to take out the appropriate level of insurance that will cover you should your DIY attempts not go according to plan."
Homeserve is anticipating a surge in demand this weekend by DIYers in distress after the last bank holiday weekend saw an overall increase of 25 per cent in the number of DIY emergency related calls. The Company experienced a 73 per cent uplift in the number of electrical emergencies such as severed electrical cables and power failure due to overloads power circuits. It also experienced an increase of 21 per cent in calls relating to plumbing emergencies such as nails through water pipes and garden picks through outside drainage pipes.
Tradesmen working over the Bank Holiday
| Area | Percentage working | Bank holiday call-out charge | Premium on weekday costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 43% | £54 | 4% |
| South West & South Coast | 53% | £53 | 10% |
| Midlands and Wales | 45% | £54 | 29% |
| North and Scotland | 50% | £44 | 5% |
Editors Notes
* Research by e-sure
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About Homeserve
Every forty seconds a Homeserve engineer comes to the rescue of a British household.
With over 4,600 directly employed and sub-contracted engineers, Homeserve is a national emergency home repair service backed by a 24 hour claims handling and repair network
Homeserve also offers insurance cover for plumbing, drains, electrical wiring and gas central heating. It has over 6.3 million policy members in the UK and a further 1.8 million in the USA, France and Spain.
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,141 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 15th - 17th October 2007. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+)