This Insurance Company Says That VR Headsets Are Causing A Spike In Smashed TVs

The Guardian reports that Aviva, a UK-based insurance company, says that a 31% rise in home accident claims involving Virtual Reality (VR), most frequently from smashed TVs has been seen in 2021. Breaking furniture and smashing belongings in the real world whilst playing in the VR caused a surge in home contents insurance claims, Aviva has said. Moreover, a 68% increase in such claims since 2016 has also been observed.

“As new games and gadgets become popular, we often see this playing through in the claims made by our customers,” Kelly Whittington, the UK property claims director for Aviva, told the newspaper.

“In the past, we’ve seen similar trends involving consoles with handsets, fitness games, and even the likes of rogue fidget spinners.”

With many people getting the VR headsets for Christmas, Aviva expects the number of claims in 2022 to stay high and potentially increase further. Aviva said, one person threw a controller through his TV when a zombie jumped out of the screen in a game. On the other hand, one child smashed two figurines perched on a mantelpiece, while many others reported cracked TV screens.

“These devices can be a great source of fun, but we’d encourage people to be mindful of their surroundings and take a look at their home insurance to make sure it suits their needs,” Whittington told the Guardian, as the director of Aviva persuaded customers to add accidental damage cover to their home insurance plan.

As VR headsets are growing more and more popular, stories of users destroying property and suffering grievous injuries have become more common. Doubtlessly, this was fairly predictable for anyone who ever accidentally yeeted their Wiimote through their television back in the 2000s. And that is indeed noticeable because Wii sales absolutely dwarfed VR’s still-sluggish adoption numbers.

More about such damages due to VR can be accessed from this article.