30 November 2005
People who need to call out tradespeople over holiday periods, often to rectify problems with their energy or water supplies, pay millions more than normal in extra fees, according to research.
Direct Line Home Response 24 says that additional fees incurred on public holidays when people need urgent repairs made amount to around £49 million on top of regular costs.
Two in five tradespeople add call out fees to work done on public holidays, with 31 per cent charging double time on top of this and 48 per cent charging time and a half.
This means that 30 per cent of UK residents stoically endure their own miniature energy crises until peak prices are no longer applicable, in preference to paying through the nose to see broken boilers or fractured pipes repaired.
Andrew Lowe, head of home insurance at Direct Line, said: "Household emergencies don't limit themselves to happening nine to five, Monday to Friday, and hiring a tradesperson out of hours or during public holidays can be incredibly expensive - if you can find one."
"A broken boiler or electrical fault at the wrong time can ruin Christmas, so we would recommend that everyone has their book of trade contacts to hand."
Plenty of people shop around when looking for a tradesperson to fix their problems - two in five get three quotes while 38 per cent endeavour to obtain two - but choice is often at a premium with 22 per cent of these professionals taking the holidays off completely.
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