Everything in the garden is rosy, as they say, and sometimes thieves find rich pickings in the new world of inside-out living, particularly when they can access a high-net-worth property.
Your garden can have many high-value items
Affluent homeowners often have outdoor living spaces full of luxury items, whether that's outdoor seating that costs five figures, an outdoor kitchen filled with accessories and cookery equipment which can be stripped out and taken away, or top-of-the-range ovens or BBQs.
Planters and containers can also be high-value items, and then there are inflatable hot tubs that can cost a three-figure sum.
Garden statues are often expensive and highly prized by thieves, including the bronze hares, cast iron stags and true outdoor antique gems and collectors' items.
Criminals can be extremely resourceful.
While you may think it difficult to steal some of these items quickly, thieves can be highly resourceful, especially if the homeowner is away. All it needs is one vehicle, purporting to be there for another purpose, such as removals or construction work, along with the proper lifting equipment and manpower. Then everything can be cleared out swiftly.
How can you insure high-value outdoor items?
Anyone with high-value outdoor items can talk to an insurance broker about how best to insure them. While your normal household policy will cover garden items, anything outside the limits of your normal household policy may either need specific, separate policies to ensure they are covered. A policy may also introduce extra security conditions to keep them safer, whether locking them away or fitting security devices, such as electronic tags or ground anchors.
How to keep your garden valuable safe
Locked cages can house items inside securely locked sheds, adding another level of deterrent, and engraving is another way to mark your goods so they can be retrieved and returned if stolen.
Natural planting, such as spiky hawthorn, holly trees, or thick conifers, can keep thieves out, as can a trellis fitted to the top of a high fence. Keeping fences lower at the front of a property increases visibility and enables thieves to be more easily spotted.
Gravel paths can alert a homeowner to the presence of a thief too. Then, of course, there are technological deterrents – CCTV and security lighting – and manual patrols by a security firm.
One important thing to remember is that items left outside could be capable of being used as missiles to break windows or smash through doors. Ladders should not be left outside where they can give thieves easy access to properties.
Talk to an insurance broker for peace of mind today
To talk to an insurance broker about how to best insure those valuable items in your garden or outside spaces, please get in touch today.