Over 22 percent of families with children under five have had toys taken from outside their homes according to a Halifax home insurance survey.
The most common item to be taken was a childs bicycle, making up almost 1 in 5 of all home insurance claims from those surveyed. Prams and buggies were also a popular target for thieves, no doubt driven by the costs of such items being quite high. The advice from the Halifax insurance people is to put items away safely when not in use, using a garden shed or bringing them into the house.
A Halifax spokesman understood the potential difficulties of being able to put everything away at some times, especially during the Summer when children are in and out of the house all day, but it is worth doing to avoid the psychological stresses it can cause, even if they have contents insurance in place to cover the financial cost.
The Abbey National is warning homeowners who use oil for heating to make sure it is insured as thefts of the valuable resource are on the increase.
A spokesman for the Abbey National confirmed that police forces from around the country are seeing a rise in oil thefts, with domestic dwellings being specifically targeted. Homeowners are being asked to check their home insurance policy documents as around 10 percent of policies do not cover heating oil.
This issue has grown in importance as the cost of oil has risen so much. Abbey National figures show that the price of oil has pretty much doubled since January, making it an interesting potential opportunity for potential thieves.
With National Bike Week about to begin cyclists are being reminded by the Halifax to make their bikes safe and secure.
Not quite gone in sixty seconds, but every sixty-five seconds a bicycle is stolen in the UK and the average replacement cost is nearly GBP340. With this in mind the Halifax is offering a few suggestions to cyclists on how to make their bike more secure. One of the most obvious ones, though not always done, is to use a secure lock and always use bike parking racks where possible.
Halifax home insurance will cover the value of a bicycle, but it is far better to keep an existing bike than have to face losing it. By using better security techniques cyclists can certainly help make it harder for thieves.