UK's wealthiest spending billions on protection
29 May 2006
Britain's wealthiest liquid asset millionaires are spending up to £5 billion on security measures to protect themselves, their families and their properties. The figure is revealed as part of a report commissioned by Zurich Private Clients, which explored millionaires' perceptions and experiences of crime.
Over 90 per cent of millionaires have invested up to £30,000 on security, with a fifth (21 per cent) concerned that they are being specifically targeted by criminals because of their wealth.
More than a third (38 per cent) of affluent addresses have suffered burglaries, and nearly a fifth (19 per cent) have suffered at the hands of car thieves.
However, it is also anxiety towards 'modern crimes' that is leading the nation's elite to re-enforce their security - with more than half (58 percent) saying they were fearful of becoming a victim of muggers, 54 per cent concerned that their identity may be stolen and just under half (40 per cent) were anxious about being car-jacked.
While recent crime statistics show that serious crime has fallen in recent years, the perception is that crime is rising. Nearly three quarters (72 per cent) of millionaires feel that the number of muggings and kidnappings has increased over the last 10 years.
It is perhaps an increase in high-profile stalking cases that has resulted in just under a third (30 per cent) worrying about being stalked. While a third (30 per cent) are concerned they may be held to ransom, and 29 per cent are fearful that they or their family may be victims of organised criminal gangs.
Hamish Brown MBE, ex-Head of Stalking, Metropolitan Police, comments:"What's important to remember is that the likelihood of being affected by a serious crime, for example, kidnapping or ransom, is still very slim.Interestingly, it's the fear of crime that's actually impacting uponpeople's anxieties. Whilst this fear is unlikely to go away, there aresteps that the wealthy can take to provide peace ofmind, and this includes seeking advice from security and insurance experts."
Kris Coombes, Zurich Private Clients, adds: "As specialist insurers of historic houses, fine art collections and jewellery, we strongly recommend that those who feel more at risk due to wealth, check that they have sufficient quality risk prevention measures in place. This should start with a personal visit from a respected insurer to provide risk
management advice for their assets and ensure that they have insurance designed to cater for the risks they face. Wealthy individuals should also check that lifestyle cover is included as part of their insurance; for us this includes insurance for identity fraud, cover for car-jacking to the providing of temporary relocation in the event of stalking."
Zurich advises that there are five steps that the wealthy can do to minimise their security risk:
1. Buy a domestic shredder. There has been a huge rise in identity crime and fraud in recent years. Ensure that all your personal documents, bills, account details etc are either securely stored at home or shredded once you have finished with them. Burglars will now actively look for this kind of documentation.
2. Make sure your intruder alarm is linked to an Alarm Receiving Centre. The Police will not respond to a burglar alarm going off unless it has been confirmed. If you only have an audible alarm system, you are relying solely on your neighbours or members of the public to alert the Police if you are away on holiday at the time.
3. Purchase a personal attack alarm. These are small hand held devices which when activated emit a high-pitched noise to draw attention to youand a potential attacker.
4. Check the integrity of your perimeter security. Ensure that garden gates are secured with deadlocks and padlocks, fit movement sensitive security lighting and make sure that CCTV cameras are digitally recorded.
5. Hide car keys at night. A growing number of vehicle thefts in the UK involve car key theft from the home. Try not to leave car keys near to the front door at night and if you do ensure that your letterbox has a letterbox guard fitted to prevent car keys from being easily dragged through the letterbox. According to recent figures from Tracker (April06) 59% of cars recorded stolen to them involved car key theft.
