As British Summer Time Begins Protect Your Gardens

As British Summer Time officially starts homeowners are warned to protect their gardens from thieves and make sure their home insurance policies cover them for garden theft.

As the clocks go forward to British Summer Time, Halifax Home Insurance is warning homeowners to make it difficult for the opportunistic garden thief.

The message is to protect both in and outside your home to try and prevent burglary. According to Halifax claims data, garden theft increased by over 50% during the summer months last year and the average cost of replacing stolen items was £429.

Senior Claims Manager for Halifax Home Insurance, Martyn Foulds says: “Homeowners can forget to pay as much attention to security of the outside of the home, but with many people now realising how much value they can add to their property by improving their gardens, there are now rich pickings for thieves, so now is the time to take steps to avoid becoming the next victim.”

Take steps to secure garden sheds, gates and outbuildings and keep them locked at all times and make sure you keep valuable items such as tools, lawnmowers and bicycles locked away out of sight. Don’t forget that tools and ladders can also be used to break into your home.

Marking valuable items such as patio furniture and ornaments is also useful, as well as keeping photos of valuable items in case anything is stolen.

It’s also wise to check your home insurance policies to make sure they are covered should they fall prey to garden thieves.  For example how much cover do you have for stolen plants, trees and shrubs? A what about cover for contents in the open such as furniture, barbecues and garden ornaments or contents of outbuildings, sheds and garages?