Halifax Home Insurance warns of summer garden thieves

A new report by Halifax Home Insurance has revealed that garden thefts increased in the summer months in 2008 and that homeowners need to take sensible measures to protect garden equipment.

In the summer months last year there was a 63 per cent increase in garden theft, according to the report which was based on home insurance claims over the past four years.

Home insurance claims relating to garden theft were the highest in London last year and the cost of replacing stolen items rose by 12 per cent to £433.

Martyn Foulds, senior claims manager for Halifax Home Insurance, said: We'd advise people to check that their home insurance policy protects against theft from the garden and we'd also recommend making life as difficult as possible for the opportunist garden thief.

Locking valuable equipment away, putting your postcode on ornaments and furniture and joining the local Neighbourhood Watch scheme are some of the ways Halifax Home Insurance has said people can prevent garden theft.

Homeowners have been cutting back on home insurance by up to a third due to the recession, according to Kwik Fit Insurance .