Wednesday 5 November 2003 - Special report - Miscellaneous

Insurer reveals much more about claims

Norwich Union's first ever insurance index report

Fire incidents go up by 50% and household thefts increase by 25% on Bonfire Night according to Norwich Union, which published information on insurance claims for the first time this week.

The figures were revealed as Norwich Union released the industry's first 'insurance index' - which provided an analysis of claims made since 2000.

The company said figures would now be released twice yearly and were designed to "provide a barometer of insurance claims". The claims data focuses on five key areas - car collision, car theft, household theft, household weather and household fire.

Topically, figures relating to Bonfire Night were highlighted this week. November 5 is the worst of the year for household theft according to Norwich Union, which sees a quarter more claims than an 'average day' over the year.

Simon Machell, customer services director at Norwich Union, said: "November 5 is pennies from heaven for burglars. People don't tend to think about home security while they're enjoying themselves on Bonfire Night.

"But it's a perfect opportunity for burglars who take advantage of the dark, the distraction and the noise of the fireworks to take people's valuables, often walking in through the front door because people haven't thought to lock it while they're busy with bonfires, barbecues and fireworks."

November 5 is also the second worst day for fire-related claims (50% more), surpassed only by Christmas Day when the insurer receives more than twice the average number of claims, mainly due to "cooking and candle accidents."

Interestingly, Christmas Day sees a 50% drop in the number of theft claims.

Motor claims
The index also reveals some interesting facts relating to car accidents and vehicle theft.

Despite traffic volume increasing by 18% over the past ten years, claims for car collisions have reduced by 7% between mid-2000 and mid-2003.

Norwich Union added that car collisions are "relatively common" with one claim for every eight policies each year. Friday is the worst day for collisions on our roads, with the least on a Sunday.

Not surprisingly, more car collisions occur in winter because of fewer daylight hours and more dangerous road conditions, although Christmas Day sees the least number of claims, due to the UK's "deserted roads". However, the run-up to Christmas is one of the worst times of the year - with claims up between 30% and 40% on average months of the year.

Norwich Union's insurance index also showed that car theft has dropped since 2000 - with claims for motor theft at their lowest for ten years. Currently one car is stolen for every 60 motor policies per year, with more thefts occurring during the winter months.

House fire and weather claims
The index shows that household fire is "relatively rare", with around one claim for every 250 policies each year. Weekends are worst for household fire, with Saturday slightly higher than Sunday, according to Norwich Union.

On average, about one in 50 household policyholders makes a weather claim each year. Storms produce a lot of small claims, said Norwich Union, whereas floods and harsher weather conditions - such as major freezes - produce fewer, but much larger claims.

The three year index shows a high peak in the last quarter of 2000 following the severe floods and storms in October of that year.

Household theft
Norwich Union describes household theft claims as "one of the more stable areas" of its business in terms of frequency of incidents. It added that the number of household thefts have reduced by 5% between quarter two of 2000 and quarter two of 2003.

Its claims data shows that there is one household theft claim for every 60 household policies per year.

As mentioned previously, November 5 is the worst day of the year for theft claims, with New Year's Eve described as another "risky" time. Friday and Saturday are the worst days of the week for break-ins and Sunday is the day when there are fewest household theft claims.

Also, there are fewer household theft claims in the summer months, despite the fact that people are often prone to leaving windows open.

Further research
The index also features research among more than 500 households about their experiences and opinions on residential crime. It reports that almost a quarter of people in the UK have been victims of a burglary, and nearly a third of these have been burgled more than once.

Also, while almost four in 10 homes have an alarm system, nearly a third of those questioned admit that they do not always activate their alarm when they leave the house.

The research also shows that half of all break-ins occur through forced entry of the front door and that residents in Yorkshire and London have been hardest hit, with over a third of people experiencing a break-in within these areas.

As well as employing more "standard" security devices, 4% of householders questioned had a private security patrol and almost 10% had a home safe. As many as 87% of households had locks fitted to downstairs windows and accessible upstairs windows.

Johnny Thomson