Britain’s front windows are an advertisement to thieves

Britons leave £188 billion worth of possessions visible to ‘window shopping’ burglars according to new research from Halifax Home Insurance.

The average British household has over £5,000 of goods such as televisions, stereos and antiques visible from the street-level windows of their property. A staggering 365,000 householders in Britain leave over £25,000 of possessions openly displayed to people passing their properties.

According to Halifax Home Insurance’s research, the highest value item that is most commonly visible through the window of a British home is a television (27%). Other high value items on display include computers, antiques, musical equipment and jewellery.

One-in-three (32%) British adults make no attempt to obscure their ground floor windows by taking preventive measures such as shutting their curtains, or fitting blinds, to completely obscure the view through their windows when they leave the property unoccupied.

In the run up to Christmas, Halifax Home Insurance is warning homeowners that it is even more important to keep their possessions out of sight from thieves. It is anticipated British families will spend a huge £17 billion, an average of £378 per person, on presents - a huge proportion of which will be left on display under the Christmas tree in the front room.

Halifax Home Insurance is recommending householders take simple measures to keep thieves from being able to peer in, particularly when the property is unoccupied, such as closing blinds or curtains.

Martin Gill, Professor of Criminology at the University of Leicester, commented: “According to this study, a third of Britons (32%) fail to take some very simple preventative measures to obscure high value goods when they are out of the property. They must realise that burglars are often opportunists and are more likely to enter your home if they can already see there are items worth stealing. In winter simple preventative measures, such as installing movement sensitive security lights, burglar alarms and time switch internal lights can be enough to deter opportunist criminal attacks.”

Vicky Emmott, senior underwriter at Halifax Home Insurance, said: “People can take practical precautions to protect their homes, by obscuring their windows when the property is unoccupied and keeping high value items out of the view of people walking past. Burglaries cost householders millions of pounds each year in damage to property and the cost of replacing lost items, not to mention the significant emotional stress they can cause to victims. It is important people ensure they have adequate insurance cover should their property be targeted by thieves.”

Regional breakdown of the average value of possessions visible to window shopping criminals

1 North West £6,720
2 Scotland £6,209
3 Wales & West £5,529
4 Midlands £4,703
5 North East/Yorks/Humber £4,439
6 South East & East Anglia £4,226
7 Greater London £4,140

On a regional basis, those living in the North West have the highest value of goods on view to window shopping burglars, followed by Scotland. Those living in the South of the country are the least likely to put high value items on view to potential criminals. In London only 13% of householders make no conscious attempt to obscure their ground floor windows. By contrast, in the Midlands 37% of householders make no conscious attempt to obscure their possessions from people walking past their homes.