Top 5 items lost, stolen or damaged

If you own one of these five items, watch out!

The average homeowner values their furnishings, clothes and personal belongings at £28,000, according to Aviva.

The home insurer has conducted a study of its claims data to find the top five items in the home that are stolen, lost or damaged. Here they are:

1.       Televisions
2.       Laptops
3.       Playstations
4.       Mobile phones
5.       Xbox 360s

Around 50% of contents claims are due to accidental damage, costing on average over £300 and women are apparently more likely to make household claims than men, claiming every 8.5 years compared to just over nine years for men.

What makes a good home insurance policy?

If you do ever need to make a claim, you’ll be glad you bothered to buy a decent home insurance policy. So what should you look for when you’re choosing which policy to go for?

1. Unlimited cover. Some insurers will ask you to estimate the value of all your belongings and the cost of rebuilding your property. If you under-estimate this figure (which, after all, is very difficult to calculate), the insurer will then refuse to pay out the full cost of replacing any items/rebuilding the property if you make a claim. So look for a good policy that offers unlimited cover, given as standard by insurers such as Abbey or Halifax. This ensures the cost of replacing your home or possessions is guaranteed to be paid out in full (although, on the contents insurance policy, there is likely to be a £1,500 limit on individual items).

2. Emergency repairs cover. Some insurers provide home emergency repairs cover. This will pay for the cost of fixing your boiler in an emergency, for example (however, it is possible to buy this cover separately from companies such as Homecall+ or Homeserve).

3. Christmas cover increase. You won't feel much like celebrating this Christmas if all your gifts were stolen and your insurer refused to replace them. So if you don't choose a policy with unlimited cover, make sure you go with an insurer that will automatically increase your level of cover over the seasonal holidays.

4. No claims discount. If you have a no claims history, look for an insurer that will offer you a no claims discount.

How To Cut Costs

1. Make your property safer. According to Tesco Personal Finance, fitting a burglar alarm will reduce your premium by around 7.5%, linking the alarm up to the police network will shave off a further 5% and fitting your windows and doors with high quality locks will also cut your premiums by approximately 5%.

2. Purchase both buildings and contents insurance from the same provider. Insurers such as Halifax and Esure will discount your premium if you take out both cover types from them. Also, look out for discounts for holding several policies with the same insurer (for example, Halifax will give you a discount if you take out travel insurance as well as home insurance).

3. Opt for a higher voluntary excess. This will reduce your yearly premiums, but do bear in mind however that you will have to pay out more should you have to make a claim.

4. Purchase your policy on the internet. Providers often discount their internet quotations as there are less administrative costs through this channel.

More detail about the top five items

If you have these particular brands of the top five items lost or stolen, watch out - because these are the top five items claimed for:

1.       32“ Toshiba television
2.       Samsung Laptop
3.       Sony Playstation 3 Slim 120GB Console
4.       Samsung Tocco Lite mobile
5.       Xbox 360 Elite Console

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