How Friday the 13th affects peoples’ behaviour

We Brits tend not to be as superstitious as those in some other countries; well at least that’s what I thought. In the States, for example, it’s common practice not to have a 13^th floor in hotels, for fear it might bring bad luck. No such thing would happen over here, would it? Surely we are far too sensible to worry about silly superstitions like that? But new research appears to show that we are, in fact, just as superstitious as those over the pond.

Today is Friday 13^th – a day that is famously unlucky, if you believe in those kinds of things, and home insurance company Policy Expert has found that people appear to change their habits when the 13^th falls on a Friday, and behave in a more careful way. The last nine consecutive Friday-the-thirteenths have all seen a fall in claim costs, while there are also fewer claims made on this date.