Burglary Hotspot Homes Don’t Bother With Insurance

One in four households in cities with the highest numbers of burglaries are not insured against break-ins, according to new research.

Burglary victims are funding the costs of crime out of their own pockets – and with the average home insurance claim for burglary adding up to £358, the cost is more than the householder would have to fork out for cover.

Unsurprisingly, the burglary hotspots are in Britain’s biggest cities – mostly across the Midlands, where Birmingham, Nottingham, Coventry and Leicester all feature.  Other cities with break-in problems include London, Manchester, Doncaster and Sheffield.

The research was carried out for insurer Paymentshield, whose chief executive Tim Johnson said: “Unfortunately, no matter how careful we are burglaries happen and they can be devastating – especially when you don’t have the correct insurance to replace your hard-earned valuables.

“Contents insurance isn’t expensive when you look at the overall cost of replacement, with most households having massive amounts of electronics like TVs, iPads and computers. It’s worrying that with so many burglary claims, people aren’t taking the easy step of home insurance.”

The problem is not restricted to cities. Recent research by Co-Operative Insurance revealed young adults are cutting out insurance to help make ends meet – leaving one in three without any cover for break-ins, fires or accidents at home.

Although households know they have no cover, many simply don’t bother to minimise risks when they are away from home, the Co-Op research went on to find.

One in five (20%) admit regularly leave windows open while more than one in twenty (6%) keep large amounts of cash in their home, 16% never lock the garden shed, 13% don’t know if smoke alarms in their homes work and 5% leave a spare key outside.

Lee Mooney, head of home insurance at The Co-op, said: “Worryingly, our findings show that a large number of people in the UK are going without home insurance, a problem which is particularly affecting the under 35s.

“The issue is that no one thinks they’re ever going to need insurance until something goes wrong, and in today’s economic climate it’s easy not to prioritise it.”