Tradesmen - Are they worth the time?

New research by home insurer, Churchill, shows that 35% of employees took paid time off last year to wait in for deliveries and tradespeople. In total, this means the nation took nearly 13.5 million days off work to wait in. Over a working lifetime this equates to each of these employees spending 62 of their days off, or three years' worth of annual leave, waiting for repairs and deliveries.

The research also revealed that 15% of employees have taken unpaid time off from work to wait for deliveries and tradespeople, at an average cost to them in lost wages of £116 each per year. If they continue doing this the cost of lost wages will be £5452 for each person over a lifetime.

There are also losses to industry as 3% of employees reveal they've taken a 'sickie' for this reason in the last year. This means that over £103 million is lost every year by employers when staff call in sick when home repairs are due.

Meanwhile, there a number of reasons why householders stay at home to wait in for deliveries and tradespeople. Nearly eight in ten (77%) like to monitor tradesmen whilst they work and 8% like to be in the room next door to a tradesman to assist with any queries. Another 9% like to be there to let tradespeople into the house or to check deliveries.

When inviting tradespeople into the home, householders prefer to hire someone on the recommendation of family and friends (46%) or to use qualified family and friends (21%) to do the work. As well as searching on the internet (20%), they also prefer to use a large company that they've already heard of (15%).

As Martin Scott, Head of Churchill Home Insurance, puts it: "Our research clearly shows there is a hidden cost to householders when having repairs undertaken or receiving deliveries which few of us consider.

"In an emergency, home insurers often offer helplines providing contact details of reputable tradesmen even if a claim isnt being made."

23 February 2007 © Moneyextra.com

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