Christmas gifts could mean extending home insurance

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Christmas gifts could mean extending home insurance

Insurers are advising homeowners to extend their home insurance policies during Christmas, to safeguard the high value goods bought as presents.

Each person spends an average of £385 on presents at Christmas, which Direct Line calculate means a total of £18.3bn. The predictable increase in expensive goods is a strong lure for thieves, and home insurance should be increased to counter the potential threat from burglars.

Direct Line’s head of home insurance, Andrew Lowe, has described Christmas as a popular time for burglaries, caused by the purchasing of hi-tech goods such as iPods and digital cameras which are relatively easy to steal and then sell on.

Lowe advisors homeowners to reappraise their home insurance to make sure that all the goods within are adequately covered by the policy currently in effect.

NFU suggests concealing gifts in the loft rather than cupboards, making them more difficult to fund for burglars and children alike.

Laura Wood, NFU’s spokesman, agrees with Direct Line that most homeowners simply don’t consider whether the large number of presents they purchase are in fact covered by their home insurance policy, and urges people to make certain they are.