Join neighbourhood watch to cut home insurance cost

Posted : 28-04-2006

With recent Home Office statistics indicating a rise in violent crime over the last few months British homeowners are increasingly looking for ways to keep both their families and their communities safe from crime.

Home insurance providers have been a major beneficiary of this as people take out sufficient cover to protect against those unfortunate mishaps.

However, building on the success of established neighbourhood watch schemes British homeowners are increasingly calling for an updated version to suit the 21st century community.

Zurich Insurance's Love Thy Neighbour report into crime and modern community life revealed that traditional neighbourhood watch schemes do not appear to be attractive enough to modern homeowners, who demand to be kept in constant communication with developments at home.

Online community forums, email alerts and text messaging are three measures proposed to be included in new neighbourhood watch schemes.

Martin Hall, head of home underwriting at Zurich Insurance, said: "There's an awful lot that people can do to reduce their risk and their fear of crime and taking an active role in looking out for your neighbours is something we wholly encourage.

"Not only does it make people feel more comfortable in their own homes, but also it can have a positive effect on reducing the number of crimes in the area. From an insurance point of view, this can only serve to reduce premiums in the long term."

Neighbourhood watch schemes have been credited with reducing crime in their immediate vicinity, helping to reduce home insurance premiums. However, a 21st century scheme with more modern communications is likely to be even more successful, and hopefully reduce home insurance premiums still further.


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