Car owners leaving ‘paradise’ on display
September 19, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Insurance
One in five British drivers are leaving their cars unattended with valuables on display worth more than £200, it has emerged.
Zurich research has discovered that 85 per cent of car owners are leaving belongings in their cars with an average value of £145, representing a total of £3.9 billion worth of gadgets on display to potential thieves.
The study also found that younger drivers between 18 and 24 years old are the worst offenders for leaving their possessions visible to thieves, while popular items left include car stereos, polling 51 per cent, and CD collections, which were left by 44 per cent of drivers.
With many Britons not taking adequate precautions to protect their vehicles from thieves with 18 per cent of having no security measures in place, Zurich has commented that UK cars are a “thief’s paradise”.
“Harried, time-poor drivers often fail to realise just how valuable the possessions they leave in their cars are and are not taking the right precautions,” Zurich Insurance head of motor underwriting Roy Seeds said.
A Direct Line spokesperson has recently advised younger drivers that taking part in the government’s Pass Plus training initiative, at a cost of about £100, could help to reduce the cost of their insurance premium by up to 35 per cent.
