UK Insurance Black-Spots Revealed
UK Insurance Blackspots
Home owners and landlords with properties with London, Leeds or Bradford postcodes have been identified as most likely to be at risk by insurance companies
Research analysing insurance claims have identified LS13, an area of Leeds, where terraced properties sell for just over £100,000 (GBP), as the UK’s worst burglary black-spot.
LS13, to the west of Leeds and incorporates Bramley – a mix of 1960s council estates and private suburbs – Gamble Hill, Moorside, Rodley and Swinnow.
Bradford postcode BD12, around five miles away, took second place.
North Finchley – N12 – in London came third, ahead of Eccles in Manchester – M30 – and the Romford postcode of RM3.
Insurance Claim By Postcode
The figures mean that local residents and landlords not only face the misery of their properties being burgled but the results mean that they could also pay 20% more for insurance.
Many of the larger insurance companies often use data based on the number of burglaries per household to decide which areas should face the highest annual premiums.
The figures were compiled by the price comparison website MoneySupermarket.com, which has warned families living in high risk postcodes that they will generally pay 20% more for insurance than people living in similar properties elsewhere in the UK.
Sim Sekhon, spokesman for the UK’s leading landlord service provider, Legal 4 Landlords, said: “While there are certainly areas of the country with a high proportion of insurance claims, this doesn’t actually mean the areas are rife with crime. From experience, thieves often target wealthier areas with quiet streets where there’s not a lot of passing foot traffic because the rewards are potentially greater and the risk of being caught in the act may be lower. The LS13 postcode in Leeds may be the top black-spot for burglary insurance claims, but increased insurance claims have an impact on all premiums, increasing by an average of 20%. Insurers use a blanket approach for postcode districts to calculate insurance premiums rather than taking insurance applications on a per case basis. So, even if you have not directly been a victim of burglary it is possible that you are paying more for insurance if there are high rates of burglary claims made within your postal area.”
