BABY ON BOARD: Parents Leave £500 Worth of Baby Equipment in Their Car

GUILDFORD, England, June 21, 2011 -

Parents are being warned not to leave valuable baby equipment in
their cars overnight as href="www.yourcoverinsurance.co.uk/en/home.html">Your Cover
Insurance has found that baby items worth up to £500 are left
behind potentially making vehicles attractive to thieves.

The research found that two thirds (66%) of parents also admit
to leaving pushchairs in their car despite spending over £300 on
them. In addition to this parents leave toys, books and travel cots
in their cars.

The top five baby items that parents regularly leave overnight
in their cars are:

1. Pushchairs (66%)
2. Toys (52%)
3. Books (35%)
4. Spare coats (24%)
5. Travel cots (3.89%)

As well as having costly items in their cars, over half (53%) of
Brits have admitted to forgetting to lock their car and despite
this, less than half of Brits (46%) think they should be more
careful about leaving items in their car overnight. Over half (58%)
of UK drivers have admitted that they keep items in their cars
overnight to avoid carrying them in out of the house when making a
journey.

Andy James, spokesperson for Your Cover Insurance warned
parents: “Baby equipment is expensive so it’s important to remember
that costly items could be stolen if their car is broken
into. Parents are very good at making sure they have all the
essentials to cater for travelling with young children but they
also need to be mindful of car security too.

“If you take precautions such as taking equipment with you when
you leave the car or making sure it is locked away out of sight,
you can discourage thieves from seeing your car as a target.”

The Your Cover Insurance research also found that Brits only
value their cars contents at just over £100.  Parents are
particularly at risk as there is a big gap between their perception
and the reality of the cost of their children’s items.

Andy James continues: “It is interesting to see how much Brits
underestimate the value of items they leave in their cars. We are
urging parents to ensure they have adequate insurance to cover
these items. With our ‘Your Cover’ policies you can ‘design’ your
own href="www.yourcoverinsurance.co.uk/en/products/car_insurance.html">
car insurance, so if you are leaving equipment behind you can
make sure the value of the items are covered up to £1,000 if your
car is broken into.” 

Your Cover Insurance tips to ensure
you leave your car safe and secure

• Try not to leave anything on show in your car when leaving your
  vehicle. A thief may see a coat and think that your car is worth
  breaking into in case there are valuable items underneath
• If you have a roof box or trailer, and have to leave items
  inside, ensure that the roof box is  properly closed and
  locked, and that trailer is covered and secured with padlocks
• The Home Office reports that having security equipment makes
  your car ten times more safer especially having an electronic
  immobiliser
• A steering lock is a low cost deterrent as long as you remember
  to use it every time you leave your vehicle
• Park your car in a well-lit, secure area and if you have a
  garage it is worth taking the time to put  your car
  inside as the risk of theft reduces significantly 
     

href="file:///\\www.yourcoverinsurance.co.uk\en\products\car_insurance\hints_and_tips\">
www.yourcoverinsurance.co.uk/en/products/car_insurance/hints_and_tips/

Your Cover insurance quotes are available online at href="www.yourcoverinsurance.co.uk">www.yourcoverinsurance.co.uk.  

For further information contact: Katie Donlan/Kate Mallett, Consolidated PR Tel: +44(0)207-781-2376/ +44(0)207-781-2360, Email: katied at consolidatedpr.com/katem at consolidatedpr.com, Mark Bishop, Group Communications Manager, Allianz Insurance, Tel:+44(0)1483-552731, Mob: +44(0)779-2567449, Email: mark.bishop at allianz.co.uk