Garden theft on the rise

We’re mad keen on kicking back in the garden in Britain, particularly the over 50s. In fact, Saga recently found out that nearly half of seniors reckon that the garden is one of their homes' most important features and that their outdoor space is where they like to relax.

But what with cash being lavished on British gardens on items like barbeques, patio heaters, chimineas, summer houses, gnomes, and goodness knows what else, it makes your average garden rich pickings for thieves, especially with metal theft on the rise. Saga says that the average claim for garden thefts is £620, with one in 12 people that the company surveyed saying that they’d been a victim of garden theft.

Yorkshire was found to have the most concentrated incidence of garden theft, with residents there being four times as likely (13 per cent) to have something stolen from their garden as those in the West Midlands, the area with the lowest occurence of garden theft. (3 per cent)

Roger Ramsden, chief executive of Saga Services, said: “People enjoy creating their perfect garden, often investing a great deal of time and money in doing so, and this is particularly prevalent in the over 50s. With the average garden insurance claim costing around £620 I would encourage keen gardeners to ensure they have the peace of mind of insurance cover for their precious garden possessions.”

Gocompare.com’s resident green-fingered home insurance expert Mark Greening said: “If you’re a keen gardener, it’s important that you check your home insurance policy as the level of cover will vary depending on your provider. Most policies will have some level of cover included but this often relates to contents in outbuildings or locked sheds. In this case, provided that the garage or shed is bolted and locked, insurers will often treat items here as if they were kept in the home.”

“With items not locked away, or “contents in the open” as they are often referred to in a policy, there will be specific limits in place so it is best to check what cover you have and whether you need to extend it,” he said, whilst looking up from tending to a clematis. “If the contents of your garden are particularly valuable, you may need to consider a specialist garden insurance policy.”

(Reproduced from news.gocompare.com  23rd May)

Gardien Comment:  Use the garden inventory checklist at http://www.garden-security.co.uk/inventory.aspx to give an accurate value of what is in your garden and then check your level of cover.