Home insurance required against garden theft

Around £295 million worth of goods are stolen from people’s gardens each year, new research suggests. Churchill home insurance, which carried out the survey, revealed that the average garden contains £738 worth of goods including furniture, barbecues, decorations, tools and plants .

In addition to these figures comes the news that 23% of home owners have at some point had goods stolen from their garden or shed. Churchill urges that homeowners check their home insurance policies in order to avoid disappointment should the worst happen. Martin Scott, Churchill head of Home Insurance commented that: It is clear that garden security is not always at the forefront of many householder’s minds…nevertheless, thefts from the garden and outbuildings are very prevalent at this time of year.

What is certain is that home owners are not taking sufficient care to prevent theft. 33% of amateur gardeners admitted that their garden was not sufficiently secure, whilst 51% said that they left belongings outside after a garden party or barbecue. The most likely items to be stolen from gardens were plants and flowers, bicycles, clothing from washing lines, gardening equipment and lawnmowers.