Who is Looking After the Children?

Grandparents are taking the strain and looking after the children this summer and it can be a costly affair.

Children are no doubt revelling in the school holidays but parents and grandparents perhaps are not quite so happy.

New research for Saga Motor Insurance shows it’s grandparents who are taking the strain and looking after the children this summer with over 30% of grandparents  looking after their grandchildren up to three times a week during the holidays.

Taking care of grandchildren can be costly and on average grandparents in the UK could spend around £750 million on their grandchildren during the summer holidays this year

Whilst the average spend may be just over £60, some 43% of grandparents expect to spend up to £100. Some have no idea how much they will spend, although 7% expect to spend more than £200 on toys and entertainment.

Nan and Grandad have a variety of tricks up their sleeve to help with the entertainment – whether planning to entertain them at home, or further afield on days out to the beach or museums.

Keeping children amused on car journeys, whether short or long, can be a struggle.

It’s no longer though a case of a game of eye spy. Instead portable games consoles, laptops and mobile phones hit the mark. The worry is that if something happens to these items they can be expensive to replace.

Roger Ramsden, Chief Executive, Saga Service commented: “Parents drive their children round every day and automatically tell their kids to hide their gadgets when they get out of the car.

“But less experienced grandparents might not remind them to do this and while the opportunist thief won’t mind stealing from children it is important to make sure expensive toys are out of sight.”

With all the technological gadgets they carry around, kids could be armed with more than £500 worth of goods on car journeys.

Does your car insurance provide you cover for this level of personal belongings?

Some certainly do, for example, Saga Motor Insurance offers £1000 of cover for personal belongings if they are lost or stolen from the car, which could offer some peace of mind for grandparents on days out.

MoneyHighStreet comments: “One of our team here just commented that how true it is that children need all their gadgets with them these days. She has just been on a 5 hour journey, travelling back to Essex from Devon, throughout which her 2 children sat quietly (with the odd giggle) watching a collections of DVDs on their laptops.

“Certainly there are no longer games of seeing how many cars of a certain colour you could see or writing down the number plates of other cars as I remember playing on such journeys!

“On a serious note though, it is vital to ensure you have the correct car insurance to cover you should you have issues whilst out and about – whether it be an accident or having something stolen from your vehicle.

“Have you considered GAP insurance too? This is an insurance policy that basically protects you if you write off your car and your car insurance policy doesn’t pay enough to settle any outstanding loans on it or the cost of replacing it.

“It’s easy to buy GAP insurance and depending on the age of your car is well worth considering.

“Finally on the subject of the costs of entertaining children over the summer holidays. It is possible to have a family day out for very little money – how about a visit to your local beach or park or perhaps one of the free museums. If you’re near London, a trip to the Natural History museum or perhaps the Imperial War museum is certainly worth doing and it doesn’t cost you a penny to go in.”

For those that would rather not pack the car out with gizmos and gadgets, old classics such as pub cricket and car bingo are a fantastic way to entertain children on the move, visit www.saga.co.uk/insurance/car-insurance/car-entertainment/top-car-games.aspx for a downloadable selection of in car games to play in the car this summer.