If your house has been ruined by a teenagers party it's devastating enough. But the anguish may be compounded as home insurers refuse to pay out.

In March Sarah Ruscoe from Devon held a house party at her parents home during their absence. She advertised her party in her sixth form common room with than invitation that proclaimed everyone was welcome. The party gained sufficient publicity as to merit a mention on Radio One. Unsurprisingly, an excessive number of guests turned up. The house filled up with over 2000 partygoers.

Upon their return Sarah's parents found their house unrecognisable. Damage had been caused to every piece of furniture and there was evidence of the party everywhere. Carpets were ruined, windows smashed and bottles littered the floors. The cost of clearing up was clearly going to run into the thousands.

In such cases you would expect that your insurance would cover the damage, but this may well not be the case. Many policies do not cover parties thrown by your children. If you did not know about the party then they are more likely to pay out, but in cases where parents allowed a party in their absence they can be deemed to have acted irresponsibly and be denied a payout.

Most insurance policies will state that the policyholder has to take reasonable care to prevent damage to their property. If they can be shown not to have taken that care then they will not receive a payout.

Allowing gatecrashers, advertising publicly and inviting more guests than would reasonably fit in your house are all classed as acting irresponsibly towards the protection of your home.