Scots New Year parties more accident-prone?
 

LONDON (Reuters) - New Year parties thrown in Scotland by young adults are most likely to end with a bang -- and a bill -- one leading insurer said Thursday.

Around 10 million Britons are expected to head to New Year's Eve parties this week at the homes of families and friends and a quarter of revelers are likely to witness something being broken or badly damaged, the insurer said.

"We believe the average New Year party claim costs around 750 pounds but we have dealt with incidents at teenage parties that have cost much more," Cornhill claims manager Harry Rule said in a statement.

One teenage party in Bristol got so out of hand that the claim for theft and malicious damage came to 5,000 pounds, he said.

A survey of revelers conducted by the insurer showed that location was as important as age in determining how likely accidents were to happen.

Parties in Scotland were the most accident-prone whilst those hosted in the southwest were relatively staid affairs.

The insurer said its more memorable New Year party claims included the Glasgow man who danced so vigorously that he lost his balance and fell through the patio doors of the host's house. The claim came to 1,500 pounds. Luckily for the man in question, only his pride was badly injured.

Barclays said a fifth of New Year party hosts ended up replacing crockery and glasses after their parties and 1 in 20 have had to replace electronic gadgets such as televisions and stereos. That comes after they have spent an average 200 pounds to welcome in the New Year in the first place.

Not many have had to replace an entire ceiling however, although that is what happened to one beleaguered host in Newcastle after a reveler decided it would be a good idea to hang from the ceiling light. The whole lot came down and cost 800 pounds to repair.

"We would strongly recommend that you move as many of your possessions out of the way as possible," Rule said. "Anything can happen when New Year party fever takes hold."

thank god for alcohol