A middle class semi-detached house with a Ford Mondeo parked outside and games consoles on view inside is a perfect target for burglars, claims a new study from Halifax Home Insurance .

According to the research, burglars prefer to steal from a semi-detached house worth around 150,000 as they believe expensive properties have more rooms which makes it more difficult to find the items they want to take.

Burglars look for items that are must have because they will be able to sell them on. Top of the list are games consoles (PS3 and the Nintendo Wii are favourites), followed by mobile phones and jewellery . Full post…

A new study from the motor insurer Axa suggests that there is a new sub-class of 1.5 million young drivers who are a potential hazard to themselves and others on the road.

The drivers, called “Stop Start Drivers” are aged between 17 and 29 and having passed their driving test, the research found that almost one in five (17 per cent) only get behind the wheel once or twice a month, with around half of these driving even less than this, often with gaps of several years.

According to Axa, these drivers are more likely to cause an accident having lost their confidence and forgotten the highway code. Full post…

As the level of residential cannibis farming rises, Aviva is warning landlords to be extra vigilant.

There has been a 30 per cent year-on-year increase in claims relating to cannibis farming, according to a report from the insurer, which is consistent with a Home Office report that reveals there was an increase of 18 per cent in the number of cannibis plants seized in 2009/10 compared with 2008/9.

Matthew Gordon, underwriting manager, property owners, at Aviva said: “Despite the upgrade of cannabis to a class B drug two years ago the industry continues to grow. Full post…

People who want to invest in fine and rare wines are being urged to make sure they have the right insurance cover in place.

Fine and rare wines will not generally be covered by a typical standard home insurance policy and will require specialist insurance, perhaps taken out as part of a high net worth home insurance, or as a separate policy, depending on the value of the collection.

Physical security has to be considered as a valuable collection could become a key target for thieves. The wine also needs to be valued, which may be a value for the whole collection, or if there are some high value individual bottles of wine, these will need to specifically referenced within the insurance policy. Full post…

A report by insurance comparison website Confused.com has revealed that homeowners in the UK are losing out on hundreds of pounds by not exploring possible savings from switching their home insurance provider .

It was found that people owning their own homes could save in total up to GBP1.7 million each year if they shopped around for improved deals on home insurance and moving to a new provider if they offered better terms that currently being received.

The findings show that homeowners are losing out on an average saving of GBP96.43 a year if they found improved terms on buildings and contents insurance policies .

Homeowners admitted that the main reason they did not investigate switching insurance provider was they believed the hassle of doing so would outweigh the cost savings achieved, with 19 per cent of people taking part in the survey responding that this was why they did not switch. Full post…

With all the excitement of a vacation or trip, it’s easy to forget what you leave behind until it’s too late. There’s nothing worse than remembering to lock the garage when you’re on a beach 1,000 miles away. Plan to protect your property and pick up the correct travel insurance so you have complete peace of mind on your travels.

Make it look like you’re still at home – get a friend to collect mail, purchase timers for inside and outside lights, and arrange for someone to mow the lawn or shovel snow in winter.

Turn off the ringer on your telephone or unplug the phone if you don’t have an answering machine. Check with yo

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