Home insurance predicted to rise

Wed, 17 Aug 2005

The obsession to own the latest hi-tech gadgets is predicted by insurers to cause a significant increase in the value of home contents. Homeowners are urged to make regular household and handbag inventories in order to avoid being under-insured.

The ‘homes of the future' report carried out by CEBR into the insurance needs of tomorrow's households predicts a sixty per cent rise in the number of household gadgets cluttering up UK homes over the next 10 years. The biggest rise is expected in households of the over 65's, where the value of hi-tech gadgets could increase by nearly four hundred percent. The ‘must have' gadgets include MP3 players, laptops and satellite navigation systems.

Today the value of technology items in pensioner households is only one tenth compared to family homes. However this is set to change as today's ‘middle-agers' enter retirement.

Middle-agers are couples with grown up children and they are the next generation of retirees. They are big spenders - the biggest spend being on accessories for the home. This factor in turn will shape the look and contents of pensioner homes of the future. These couples are the highest spenders on computers, DVD players and household appliances compared to all other households, totalling almost £1,300 per year. Also this group is the most likely to take out home insurance to cover all their purchases. More than ninety per cent of couples with grown-up children are insured.
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