Brits Plan to Spend £8.5Billion* on Christmas Presents

LONDON, November 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Brits are planning to spend an average of £325 per household on Christmas presents this year, according to new research from Tesco Bank Home Insurance, with one in ten planning to spend over £600 on gifts for their friends and loved ones.

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121017/568123 )

For 58%, the shopping has already begun in earnest with people stockpiling gifts since the beginning of November.

Gary Davess, Director of General Insurance at Tesco Bank warns: "This is the time of the year when people are inadvertently increasing the value of their home contents with expensive presents hidden away which is why we apply an automatic uplift of cover for our customers.  In addition, 37% of people are expecting to be away from home for at least one night during the festive period.  This means that homes could become tempting targets for burglars.  We urge people to make sure their properties are as secure as possible and that they have adequate home contents cover."

Tesco Home Insurance applies an automatic, month-long uplift to the value of home contents covered on its Finest and Standard Home Insurance policies, at no extra cost.

• Customers with Finest Home Insurance receive an automatic 20% increase in contents cover for gifts, extra food and beverages bought for Christmas.
  
• Customers with Standard Home Insurance receive an automatic 10% uplift in contents cover for gifts, extra food and beverages bought for Christmas.
  

This automatic increase applies to all religious festivals that take place throughout the year.

Plus, new customers with a Clubcard can also save up to 50% discount on their home insurance.**

For more information about Tesco home insurance products, visit http://www.tescobank.com.

Tesco Home Insurance is arranged and administered by Tesco Bank and is underwritten by a select range of insurers.

* ONS - Total number of UK households 26,355,000. Calculation: £325 x 26,355,000 = £8,565,375,000.

**At least 10% of Clubcard customers will achieve the maximum 50% discount. Discount includes an introductory discount (from the full price premium which is currently charged to customers in year 3) plus an additional Clubcard discount.  Discount for home applies to buildings and/or contents cover.

Terms and Conditions:

The cover increase is provided under the religious festival increase feature under which the maximum claim limit is increased by the amount shown in the customer's policy schedule (20% for Finest, 10% for Standard) during the month of the customer's religious festival to cover gifts and extra drink and food brought for the religious festival.

About Tesco Bank

Tesco Bank has 6.5 million accounts and policies.

We opened for business in 1997 and since 2008 have been owned by Tesco PLC.

We now have over 3000 staff based in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.

Our aim is to be the financial services provider of choice for Tesco customers by giving them good service, great value and by rewarding their loyalty for shopping at Tesco.

Tesco Bank offers a popular range of simple personal banking and general insurance products including car, home, pet and travel and always give discounts on insurance premiums for Tesco clubcard holders. 

• We were voted 'Best Home Insurance Provider' 2012 in the Consumer Moneyfacts Awards, while our Finest Home Insurance has a 5 Star Defaqto rating.
• 1.5 million Brits have Tesco Car and Home insurance with us.
• Tesco Pet Insurance is the UK's number one choice for cat and dog

Last year we gave more than £100 million in Clubcard points to Tesco customers.

Tesco Bank products and services are available online at tescobank.com and by telephone from our UK-based service centres.

We aim to be a valued part of the communities we operate in.

About YouGov

"All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,044 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 19^th to 21^st November. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB/UK adults (aged 18+)

SOURCE Tesco Bank