You probably didn’t know but the average British garden contains around £1500 worth of valued items. For pondkeepers and Koi enthusiasts that average is probably significantly greater. Garden thefts are up 23% since 2017. Despite this only about 41% of policy holders list their garden items on their home insurance.

As we move through autumn towards winter garden thefts are set to increase. People should remember that the term ‘contents insurance’ refers not only to possessions inside the home but also outside, ie; in the garden. During the periods of lockdown many of us have spent our cancelled holiday money on our gardens so it’s worth thinking about updating your policy to include garden items old and new.

Popular items for the robbers include the obvious such as bikes, lawn mowers etc, but in recent years there’s been an increase in thefts of items such as BBQ equipment, garden furniture, koi and other fish and even thieves uprooting entire shrubs, plants and turf! It seems there’s nothing that’s not fair game for the thieves. We’ve even experienced a series of thefts from our display ponds here at Bradshaws, resulting in us beefing up our CCTV.

Another thing to consider is a change in behaviour due to lockdown. Insurers have noticed a trend that, with many of us spending much more time and money in and on our gardens people seem to be more prone to leaving valuable items outside overnight or even leaving sheds unlocked.

With a 2nd wave of Covid infections in full swing and new lockdown measures across the UK we recommend you take a look and update your policy now, to avoid tears later.