Secret Spending: The Insurance Cost

Millions of us are spending money on purchases that are kept secret from loved ones. New research from LV= home insurance reveals that more than 9.5 million buyers in the UK alone spent money in secret last year, or hid the true cost of an item – with the average person spending around £1,600 in secret each year*.

Males are particularly keen to hide the cost of clothes, electronic gadgets (such as tablets and televisions) and sports equipment whereas females tend to be more reticent about clothes, shoes, jewellery and expensive make-up.

Guilt about the true cost and a desire to avoid the possibility of an argument are the main causes of this course of action. The most common methods of preserving this secrecy include hiding the receipt, throwing away the shopping bag or packaging and pretending a new item was old. Notably, some just choose to “reduce” the true value of the item by, on average, 49% if confronted.

Worryingly, more than a third of those who have bought something in secret over the past three years have subsequently had the item they bought lost, stolen or damaged. The majority of these individuals either didn’t have the item listed on their home insurance policy or had listed it for less than its true value.

Depending on the terms and conditions of your home insurance, if you have purchased a high value item or a number of items which, in turn, significantly impact upon the value of your overall home contents you need to make sure you let your insurer know; should the worst happen you could then claim back the true cost. P F Spare Insurance Brokers are pleased to arrange home insurance through Liverpool Victoria amongst our wide panel of home insurance providers and would be pleased to hear from you if you would like a quotation.

*All research unless stated otherwise was conducted by ICM Unlimited between 10 and 12 April 2015. ICM questioned a representative sample of 2,053 Britons.