Direct Line has released the results of research which states that our homes are most at risk when we leave them empty whilst we’re away on holiday, with 16% of all burglaries occurring during this time.

And it is the summer holidays that are the riskiest time for homeowners. Direct Line announced that July and August were the worst months for break-ins. They discovered this when comparing the high level of claims that are made during these months when compared to the rest of the year.

The worst thing is that many homeowners do not do enough to protect their properties when they are away. Direct Line discovered that 35% of people do not get one of their neighbours to keep an eye on their homes when they’re away, and nearly half don’t leave their contact details with anyone should something happen. On top of that, only 55% of the population get someone to clear away the accumulating post for them, and 65% of people do not leave their lights on a timer to deter thieves.

Perhaps the most shocking thing of all is that the majority of people do not lock away their valuable items when they are away. If a thief breaks into the property then the job is made a lot easier for them if all the expensive items are there ready to be stolen.

Andrew Lowe, the head of home insurance at Direct Line, said that “burglars can pick up on various clues to establish whether a house is likely to be unoccupied”, so it is always essential to take precautions.

It seems like backwards logic, but in new research released by AA Insurance, it has been revealed that many customers could be getting cheaper home insurance when they opt to buy both buildings and contents cover separately. Until now it has always been assumed that the best deals are to be found when you buy buildings and contents insurance combined from the same insurance provider, so the results have come as something of a surprise.

As well as being hailed as the cheaper option, the special offers from insurance companies, when buying both types of insurance from them, are also more convenient. But AA Insurance’s research suggests that two-in-five households are actually paying over the odds for the insurance and could get a cheaper deal by buying the covers separately.

The research involved a survey of 25,000 households across the country, and AA examined the quotes provided for home insurance from April to June this year. The company found out that a staggering 41% could do better buying their buildings and contents insurance separately. On top of this, if promotional discounts are taken out of the equation, the figure jumps to a massive 59%.

Many insurance providers offer discounts to tempt customers into buying more from them, but Simon Douglas, the director of AA insurance, said that even when taking these promotional discounts into account, “a surprising number of customers would be better off buying the policies from different insurers.” This is because some companies offer a good quote on one type of cover and provide a bad deal on another.

Maybe it’s the credit crunch, or maybe it’s the proliferation of television programmes showing us how easy it is to cook a cordon bleu meal at a fraction of restaurant prices, but whatever the underlying reason, many of us are choosing to forego expensive meals out in favour of staying at home either for a takeaway or home cooked meal washed down by a nice bottle of wine.

However, research carried out by the AA has revealed that this could be more costly than we may first think.

90% of us have admitted to a culinary disaster which has cost us on average over a hundred pounds. 25% of us have had a cooking accident such as a small fire, with stains from red wine spillages and food also being a top mishap. Then of course there are breakages, with over half of us having broken china or glass recently.

Whilst the odd breakage is unlikely to have us reaching for our insurance policy, the cost of replacing a carpet after you have had a disaster with a bottle of red wine or a takeaway curry can be substantial and it is only then that many of us realise that we are not covered for accidental damage.

In fact around a half of all home insurance policies do not have the added extra of accidental damage and, even more worryingly, a third of all householders have failed to take out any contents insurance. It is a great temptation in times of recession to save a bit of cash by cancelling things like insurance but it is a decision that can cost you a lot in the long run.

This June may have been blessing us with some great weather, but not everyone is happy. In fact Halifax Home Insurance has just revealed that this is a decidedly bad time for some.

The reason? Stray tennis balls. It seems that as the sun comes out and Wimbledon gets into full swing, all those aspiring Roger Federers go outside with their rackets and balls which can lead to a busy time for home insurance companies as they are forced to deal with a lot more claims for broken windows.

The company has released its own figures for claims made during different months of the year, and revealed that stray tennis balls were responsible for a 34% increase in overall claims last June when compared to claims made in January.

The head of underwriting at Halifax, David Rochester, said that “accidental breakages” were a lot higher during the summer months and advised people to take care when playing with tennis balls. He also encouraged people to check whether they have insurance for accidental breakages should a ball not hit its intended target.

The company also revealed the top spots for breakages in Britain, with the highest number of claims arising in Ipswich. Within the top ten areas, four of them were in Scotland, perhaps reflecting the success of Andy Murray at this year’s Wimbledon championships.

So if you are heading out to get into the spirit of the summer and practise your backhand, make sure that you take the advice of the Halifax and check that you are insured before that inevitable accident occurs.