From debating whose turn it is to do the laundry, to arguing about who forgot to lock the back door, there’s a huge range of common conflicts that arise when we share a home with other people.
A new study from the home insurance team at Compare the Market has revealed the most common causes of household disagreements, who we most frequently have them with, and how we deal with them to avoid any further tension within the home.
Clashes over cleaning are the most common cause of household disagreements
Unfairly splitting cleaning responsibilities and not enough cleaning being done in the house rank as the most common causes of household disagreements overall. More specifically, an unfair split of cleaning responsibilities is the most frequent reason for disagreements with a partner (23.5%), mother (12.3%), husband (21.5%), sister (14.8%), grandma (14%) and female housemate (15.2%).
When asked why they have disagreements with a member of the household over this issue, the most common answers people gave were “they need to do their fair share of this” (23.7%), and “it creates more work for me” (23.2%).
Not turning lights off when leaving a room comes in third and is the most common cause of disagreements with a children (29.2%). This is followed by not flushing the toilet, leaving appliances such as hair straighteners on, and not washing the dishes.
A quarter (24.8%) of people say they argue with their children more than anyone else in the household
Children are the most common culprits when it comes to household disagreements, with a quarter (24.8%) of people admitting they’re more likely to argue with their children than anyone else in the home. Clashes with children happen on average 201.2 times per year – which is equivalent to over half (55%) the days in a 12 month period.
Just under a quarter (23.9%) of people said they are most likely to argue with their husband, while only 12.5% of people named their wife as the person they’re most likely to have a dispute with.
Over one in 10 (13.5%) people deal with household conflicts by raising their voice or shouting to get their point across
The most common way we deal with household disagreements is to just do the task ourselves, with over a quarter (28.4%) of people saying this is their go-to method. This is also the most common method used by women specifically (30.9%), while men are more inclined to have an honest conversation explaining how they feel (25.1%).
The survey also found that more than one in 10 (13.5%) people deal with household disagreements by raising their voice and/or shouting to get their point across. 18 to 24-year-olds are most likely to pick this method, with nearly one in five (19.8%) saying they try to resolve a disagreement this way.
Nearly one in 10 (9.6%) people cite home insurance concerns as a reason for arguing about not locking the back door
Just under one in 10 (9.6%) people said that they have had a disagreement with a housemate or family member over not locking the back door because they know that doing this could invalidate home insurance.
Other people also said they have had disagreements over things that they ‘know’ will invalidate their home insurance – such as what temperature to sleep at (7.1%), not watering the plants (6.9%), and building flat pack furniture (6.4%) – despite the fact that these things don’t actually affect home insurance at all.
Anna McEntee from the life insurance team at Compare the Market said, “Some reasons for common household disputes are due to nothing more than annoyance, however some habits can be a bigger cause for concern.
Leaving doors or windows unlocked can indeed invalidate your home insurance. If a theft happened on your property because of doors being left unlocked, it’s likely that your claim would be rejected due to there being no signs of ‘force and violence’ used to gain entry.
It’s important to always stay aware of exactly what can influence your home insurance policy and potentially lead to a claim being rejected – but disputes over building flat pack furniture or doing the laundry definitely aren’t included in this.”
