Sainsbury's reveals rise in holiday theft
0 commentsIf you’re heading on holiday soon then take heed of the recent warning from Sainsbury’s Travel Insurance. It estimates from research it carried out that £1.7 billion was stolen from Britons travelling abroad over the last five years.
Having goods stolen when on holiday abroad is one of the main reasons that people carry travel insurance. Many travel insurance providers offer cover for possessions and cash that get lost or stolen, and this news reiterates the need to take out insurance when you travel abroad.
According to the research, which polled 2,000 people:
- 11% of British adults have been victims of theft over the last five years
- the average loss is estimated at £326
- 240,000 people have had over £1,000 taken
- 24,000 estimated their loss at £5,000 or over
What is really worrying, however, is that only 51% of victims reported the theft to the local police. Most travel insurance policies require you to report the incident to the police in order to make a claim, so this should be one of the first things you do.
Out of the types of theft that were reported:
- pick-pocketing was the most common with 1.1 million victims
- theft from a car was the second most common with 855,000 victims
- bag snatching came next with 805,000 victims
- thefts from hotel rooms or villas made up 752,000 of reported thefts
It looks like cash is the most popular target for thieves, with 1.8 million people having their money stolen. Wallets and cameras were also very popular for thieves. It is estimated that 171,000 people had their car or motorbike stolen, with 257,000 suffering the theft of their luggage.
The research also revealed that men are more likely than women to be victims of robberies, with 2.9 million men becoming victims in the past five years compared to 2.2 million women.
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