Saga Car Insurance offers £1,000 personal belongings cover

A quarter of motorists may find they are not covered for the full value of their in car gadgets
Saga offers market leading £1,000 of personal belongings cover

British motorists admit to leaving hundreds of pounds of removable gadgets in their cars, failing to realise that they may not be fully covered by their insurance, according to a study from Saga Motor Insurance.

Over 8 million drivers, including 22% of motorists over 50, claim they have over £200 of portable gadgets and gizmos in their vehicles at any one time, exceeding the nominal £100-£200 of cover for personal possessions offered by most motor insurers, leaving them financially vulnerable if they become the victims of theft.

Saga knows that the over 50s like to travel with gadgets such as mobile phones, sat nav systems and MP3 players in the car, in addition to other costly personal belongings such as clothing and child seats. The over 50s tend to buy better quality and more expensive gadgets, which is why Saga offer cover for up to £1,000 of personal possessions, rising to £2,000 for the month of December.

The research showed that technology savvy Brits are keen to travel with their communication equipment at all times, with over two fifths (42%) having a mobile phone or blackberry/other handheld email device in their car, a third (32%) having GPS units, over a tenth (12%) with DVD players and iPods and 8% with laptops. Some 4% even have flashy personal speed camera detectors.

Andrew Goodsell, Executive Chairman, Saga Group, commented: "The trend for more in-car technology has led to a significant increase in the total value of a vehicle's contents. The over 50s do tend to take more care and lock valuables out of sight or remove them from the car altogether. But I would urge people to check their policies to see how much their insurers would cover if they became victims of theft."