Industry News from Yes Insurance

When it comes to Christmas decorations the British go all out, with a whopping £1.6 billion spent on decorations for the home, according to recent research by Alliance & Leicester.

In addition to the cash spent, the careful act of placing the decorations in just the right, tasteful positions reportedly takes up 70 million hours, which can be hard to justify when they only stay up until January 6th.

Of course not all of the money is spent on tinsel and baubles; 82 per cent of those asked admitted they would be sprucing up their home by investing in new sofas, lights and even luxury loo roll in order to impress their festive guests.

"Christmas is a time for friends, family and general socialising and we want our homes to look the best when entertaining guests," said Stephen Leonard, director of mortgages at Alliance & Leicester.

"People want to feel house-proud and are putting in the time and effort to achieve house-perfection."

As usual, it all depends on where you live as to how long you spend on your abode. Those in Yorkshire will spend eight-and-a-half-hours preparing for their visitors, compared to time-pressured Londoners, who will take less than five-and-a-half-hours.

In addition, those in the north-east will splurge almost £200 on making their home the envy of the neighbourhood, whereas west Midlanders will fork out just £108 on their homes.

With Christmas lights and seasonal candles, it would be a crying shame if all the hard work went up in flames, so make sure that all unused lights are switched off and invest in some home insurance, just in case the worst happens.

© Adfero Ltd