Christmas rush highlights need for home insurance

Last-minute Christmas shopping set to dramatically increase the value of contents held in homes over the festive season.

According to Sainsbury's Finance, £1.37 billion is likely to be spent this Christmas Eve as panic-buyers head for the high street, and as such homeowners will need to consider whether their home contents insurance policy is sufficient to see them through the holidays.

Once again there looks set to be a stampede of shoppers on Christmas Eve as many people leave their shopping to the last minute before Christmas, Stuart McKeggie, head of Sainsbury's Credit Cards, confirmed.

Men are the more likely to have left their shopping to the last minute, with 19 per cent of those polled by Sainsbury's Finance admitting that they would still have presents to buy on December 24th compared with 18 per cent of women.

Research conducted by Direct Line earlier this month suggested £18 billion worth of presents will be put at risk over the festive season by homeowners who insist on keeping their gifts on display for opportunistic burglars to take advantage of.