By Lois Avery
Careless Brits could leave over £4 billion worth of garden goods unprotected this winter, making easy pickings for thieves.
While homeowners are making sure they have home insurance to secure the contents of their houses, new figures from insurer More Th>n reveal that over 20 million properties with gardens in the UK will leave £4.35bn worth of goods outside, including plants, furniture and barbeques.
Worryingly, 35 per cent of the homeowners surveyed admitted they do not take any security precautions at all in the garden, despite statistics showing that thieves are favouring gardens more than ever with clothes line theft alone up by as much as 20 per cent in the past year.
And with some garden furniture costing over £300, not to mention plants, barbecues and ornaments, homeowners are being urged to step up the security.
As well as making life harder for thieves, More Th>n recommends checking home insurance policies to make sure it includes garden equipment.
More Th>n spokesperson, Pete Markey said: “It’s concerning that half of Brits are essentially leaving their possessions ‘up for grabs’.
“With the value of items in gardens higher than ever, leaving them exposed is the outside equivalent of leaving the front door open. With the nights set to draw in, people need to start thinking seriously about protecting their outdoor treasures”.
As well as making sure you’re adequately insured, there are some measures you can take to protect your garden goodies, including:
- Making sure you have a lock on garden sheds, particularly if they contain garden tools and ladders as these could aid a burglar’s entry to the property.
- Installing fencing and gates which can help prevent prowlers getting into the back and sides of your home where they won’t be seen by passers-by.
- Gravel driveways are noisy to walk on, which may put intruders off.
- For more on ensuring garden security and how it impacts your home insurance policy, read our article about covering your garden.
