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The Cost of Hosting
When dinner parties go wrong
It’s a fact of adult life that you’re likely going to host a dinner party at some point. Some people thrive at hosting, while others find it a bit of a chore.
From family BBQs to game nights, birthday parties, and everything in between, at some point your home will become the setting of a celebration for people in your life.
But hosting isn’t without expense. It costs money to put together – which all adds up over the course of a year – but if something goes wrong, then there can be an additional expense to repair the damage.
The home & contents insurance comparison service iSelect has run a survey of approximately 3,000 Australian, Canadian, and American adults to find out how often people host, how often things get stolen or broken during such events, and what it all costs the hosts.
How often do people host social parties at home?
Across all three countries, the most common frequency of hosting social gatherings is every few months. This accounted for 26% of Australians, 23% of Canadians and 22% of Americans.
Overall, Australians were the most likely overall to host, with 89% saying they’d hosted a party at home within the past 12 months. In Canada, this drops to 83%, while the USA saw a further drop, with only 79% hosting throughout the past year.
Interestingly, breaking the data down by age group, younger groups host parties more frequently. For example, 12% of Australians, 11% of Canadians and 14% of Americans aged 18-24 years old host every week.
Ahh, to be young again!
How much do people spend on hosting?
Despite Australians being more likely to host a house party in the past year, they spent the least on average. Australians dropped an average of AUD$837.45 on hosting in the past year, while the average Canadian spent $842.83 , just edging out the Australians.
Despite having the smallest proportion of people who host events at home, Americans spent the most on hosting, splashing an average $1,204.24 over the year.
Breaking the figures down by age group, it was Millennials who were more likely to splash the cash and have higher average spends per year on hosting. In Australia, 35-44 year olds had the biggest average spend at $1,137.58. In the USA, 25-34 year olds spent the most at $1,544.19, while Canadians aged 35-44 spent $1,030.55 on average.
As the chart below shows, Americans were spending more money on average across every single age group.
How many times do things go wrong at dinner parties?
Dinner parties are for ‘spilling tea’, not wine, but sometimes accidents happen. When asked if they’d ever had damage, accidents or theft occur while hosting events at home, 22% of Americans and Canadians said yes, compared to just 17% of Australians.
Given the likelihood of younger adults to host more often, it’s not surprising they had higher rates of accidents, damage and theft than older generations. Across all three countries, those aged 18-24 had the highest rates of things going wrong. Almost half of American Zoomers reported that their dinner parties left a sour ending at 44%. In Canada it was 31%, and in Australia it was 26%. What a way to repay someone’s hospitality!
The cost of hosting when things go wrong
For those who said something had gone wrong, the cost runs into the hundreds. Americans had the highest average cost at $940.35. Canadians had the second-highest damage bill at $683.48, while Australians had the least at $578.52.
Americans aged 18-24 and Canadians aged 25-34 had the highest average damage cost, with Americans spending $1,421.60 and Canadians spending $922.86.
However, in Australia it was those aged 45-54 who had the highest average spend when hosting goes wrong, spending an average $929.50 over a year.
“Hosting events at home can be a delight, and it’s always good to spend time with friends and family, but when things go wrong, hosts can find themselves with a bigger bill than expected.
“Our survey revealed that people had to spend not only hundreds of dollars on hosting, but even more repairing damages and replacing broken items when things go wrong, which in America and Canada, happened one-in-five times!
“Home and contents insurance in Australia can cover some related expenses, and if someone gets physically injured, it can provide legal indemnity, but it’s crucial those who play the part of gracious host understand what their policy will and won’t cover.
“Accidental damage is not always included, but can usually be added to your policy as an optional extra. For regular party hosts, this could be something important to consider.
“Be sure to check the details of your home and contents insurance policy to see what’s covered, what’s excluded, and what the limits are for different types of contents.”
Adrian Bennett
General Manager – General Insurance
Written by:
Sean Hardeman
Digital PR Advisor
0424 107 600
Sean, a Digital PR Advisor with a career spanning more than seven years, is an experienced writer with a strong understanding of insurance and utilities.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a master’s in Marketing and Digital Communications, and has a knack for turning complex topics into interesting, easy to understand articles and explainers.
About the data
iSelect commissioned PureProfile to survey 1,012 Australian, 1,013 Canadian, and 1,104 American adults in April 2026. Canadian and American currency was converted into Australian dollars on 24/04/2026 using Google’s currency exchange calculator tool.
About 
At iSelect, we’re passionate about making Aussies’ lives easier by saving them time, effort and money. We are Australia’s go-to destination for comparison across insurance, utilities and personal finance products made available from our range of providers. Our service is provided at no cost to the customer.
iSelect General Pty Ltd (ABN 90 131 798 126. AFSL 334115) has partnered with Compare the Market (ABN 83 117 323 378. AFSL 422926) to compare a range of home insurers and policies. Not all providers in the market or all policies offered by the partners are compared and not all policies or special offers are available to all customers.
A number of our participating general insurance brands are arranged by Auto & General Services Pty Ltd ACN 003 617 909 on behalf of Auto & General Insurance Company Limited 111 586 353, both of which are related entities of iSelect Limited. Our relationship with those companies does not impact the integrity of our comparison service. Click here to view iSelect’s range of providers.
Any advice provided by iSelect is of a general nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You need to consider the appropriateness of any information or general advice iSelect gives you, having regard to your personal situation, before acting on iSelect’s advice or purchasing any policy. You should consider iSelect’s Financial Services Guide which provides information about our services and your rights as a client of iSelect. iSelect receives commission for each policy sold that is a percentage of the premium or a flat fee. Ask us for more details before we provide you with any services.