Contents of three million homes 'at risk'

Posted : 17-02-2005

Over three million households in Britain are leaving themselves vulnerable by not possessing home contents insurance.

A study by Abbey has found that 3.4 million homes in the UK still have no home contents insurance, meaning that they will be out-of-pocket if any of their belongings are stolen or destroyed through fire or flooding for instance.

Even some of those with home contents insurance are leaving themselves at risk, with 28 per cent of people not knowing if their policies are sufficient to cover their household possessions, MyFinances reports.

Richard Field, Abbey's director of insurance advises also households to ensure that their belongings are insured, especially with one third of Britons believing that their home contents is worth in excess of £35,000.

"People should question the financial sense of not covering the possible loss of home contents. The fact is that most householders have a lot to lose - not least a standard of living that could have taken a family years of hard work to establish," he said.

"When people suffer a significant loss of their household belongings, perhaps through flood, fire or theft, they are suddenly faced with the costs of having to replace a large number of possessions, probably acquired gradually over a number of years."

According to the bank almost one in five Britons have household contents worth over £50,000.

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