Home Insurance Firms Warn On Uncovered Gadgets

Most of us, or our children, have at least one or two gadgets in our possession. Things we seem to not be able to live without even though ten years ago they weren’t invented. Things like iPods, PDA’s, MP3 players and increasingly complicated mobile phones. In addition, these things do not come cheap and quite often we can be carrying around up to £500 worth of stuff.

These items keep us connected to the rest of the world or disconnect us from it, however, they are also small and easily stolen which makes them ideal targets for light fingered thieves. Whether at home or out and about, we need to be more careful about looking after our valuable possessions. Because if the worst happens, and our gadget is stolen or simply lost then we may not be covered on our home insurance policy.

Most home insurance policies will not cover iPods and MP3 players, home insurance experts have warned. Ownership of the flash and pricy music players has exploded, and so have incidents of people being mugged for them, say home insurance companies.

In London alone, the number of people who have had their MP3 players stolen in the street has increased fivefold over the past year.

And it is not just the players themselves that are pricy - if someone has not backed up their downloaded files on their computer they may end up paying more to replace their music than the player itself. Even replacing all the tracks on a relatively small iPod mini or Nano, capable of storing around 1,000 songs, could end up costing up to £800.

Home insurance companies are recommending people who regularly walk around with their MP3 players ensure that their home insurance cover will replace them if stolen.

"To lose both an iPod and your own personal music library without any insurance is a frustrating and unnecessary double whammy. Consumers should make sure they are covered by their contents insurance," said a home insurance manager.

If you would like to know more about home insurance why not ask AnswerBank Insurance.