UK Home Insurance News

Thursday, May 04, 2006

 

Insurer names UK's worst towns and cities for burglary

The UK's worst towns and cities for household theft were named today in a report from Endsleigh home insurance.

Nottingham came out as the most burglary-prone city, closely followed by Hull. Guildford came out as the safest town in terms of household theft.

Endsleigh has compared the frequency of theft claims in different UK towns and cities to the Endsleigh national average. The data therefore shows the likelihood of a theft occurring rather than just the total number of incidents that have occurred in each city.

As well as looking at burglaries, the report also looked at claims for accidental damage - with Northampton residents coming out the most accident-prone, at almost 40% more likely to claim for accidental damage than Endsleigh's national average.

The three cities with the highest rate in household theft, according to Endsleigh's claims data, are:

1. Nottingham
2. Hull
3. Leeds

The data showed that Nottingham residents are over twice as likely to make a claim for household theft - with the risk 109% higher than Endsleigh's national average. Hull and Leeds residents are 88% and 65% more likely to make a claim respectively.

The three places with the lowest rate in household theft, according to Endsleigh's claims data, are:

1. Guildford
2. Coventry
3. Edinburgh

Residents in Guildford are least likely to suffer from burglary with over 41% less claims than the national average. Coventry and Edinburgh follow closely behind.

Endsleigh spokesman Tim Larden said: "Our report underlines the risks which householders face in cities across the UK. For those living in the towns and cities which have ranked as the highest risk, there will be understandable concern. However our data shows that these towns and cities are actually showing above average improvements in the numbers of claims being made for theft and we anticipate this positive trend to continue. This is in part down to a number of police and community initiatives - such as neighbourhood warden schemes - which have been set up to address household security issues.

"These figures do also emphasise the need for adequate insurance cover and appropriate security precautions in the home. However as improvements are seen, and areas become lower risk, a positive impact on insurance premiums can be expected."

The three places that rated as the most accident-prone, having the highest levels of claims for accidental damage, were:

1. Northampton
2. Plymouth
3. Hove

The three places that rated as the least accident-prone, having the lowest levels of claims for accidental damage, were:

1. Manchester
2. York
3. Newcastle

Residents in Manchester are arguably the least clumsy - they came out as the least likely to claim for accidental damage, closely followed by York and Newcastle.

posted by UK Insurance Index  @ 9:21 PM

<< Home Insurance News

News items are intended for information only and should not be relied upon when making insurance decisions. Due to their nature some of the information in these news stories may no longer be current.