Don't let burglars bag your booty on the beach

Halifax Travel Insurance is warning British holiday makers to remain extra vigilant on the beach this summer.

Beach bags can now carry up to £1000 worth of goods, with fashion conscious beach-goers parading expensive accessories like mp-3 players, digital cameras, mobile phones and designer sunglasses.

The modern beach-goer is now an easy target for the opportunistic beach burglar. Mobile phones have a typical value of £100, digital cameras start at around £150, while people generally carry larger amounts of foreign currency than if they were at home.

Paul Birkhead, Underwriting Manager at Halifax Travel Insurance says: "Long gone are the days when the contents of a beach bag included no more than a towel, sun cream and a few warm sandwiches. Today's beach bag is a fashion statement and holiday makers like to make sure they have all their fashion accessories to hand."

Other items you might find in a typical 21st century beach bag:

Accessory - Typical value
MP-3 player - £100
Mobile phone - £100
Digital camera - £150 minimum
Designer sunglasses - £80
Watch - £80
Mini-speakers - £30
Currency - £100
Change of clothes - £100
Jewellery - £100
Passport - Priceless!

Birkhead continued: “We'd advise holidaymakers to remain vigilant at all times and to never leave their beach bags unattended as this might invalidate their insurance claim should they fall victim to beach thieves. However, while you can minimise the risks you can never eliminate them, which is why having travel insurance is so important when you are abroad. It's not only important having travel insurance, but having adequate travel insurance that will cover the full amount of the goods stolen. Single item and upper limits apply to travel insurance policies and holidaymakers need to do their research. Indeed in the last five years, £1.5 billion worth of items were not covered as the holidaymaker either had insufficient or no travel insurance.”