Are your Christmas presents fully insured?
As the festive season draws closer, homes around the country will soon start to fill up with brightly-wrapped presents, many of which will be prominently displayed in living rooms under a blinged up tree.
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-christmas%Unfortunately it's Christmas time for burglars too, with thefts up by 38% in the winter months according to the Co-operative insurance.
Tips to put thieves off
To minimize the risk of having your festive goodies stolen you can make sure all your windows and doors are locked.%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-christmas%
It's a good idea to not leave anything on show - and that can include presents under the tree.
Also, break down packaging after Christmas Day and hide it under other recycling or in your bin so opportunist thieves can't easily spot what new goodies you have at home.
However you can't completely stop thieves targeting your property. If it does happen to you, you can at least limit the impact by ensuring you have adequate insurance cover.
Read the insurance policy small print
If you have a decent insurance policy you'll probably find all your Christmas gifts are protected, but it's worth checking the T&Cs just in case there is an upper limit on the total value of claims, as well as on individual items.
You may even be in for a pleasant surprise, as many insurers automatically increase what you're covered for at Christmas. This is known as the 'special events' clause, which sees the value of items some insurers will cover increasing by 10% around Christmas.
Even if you have adequate cover, don't keep receipts with presents as this would be a bonus for burglars, and make it harder for you to prove what you've lost.
Our guide to home insurance has more tips on what makes a good policy
Don't forget about your car
Thieves are known to trawl town centre car parks looking for gift-heavy vehicles. Where possible put all purchases in the boot. You may be covered under your comprehensive car insurance; or even under your contents insurance, but there will probably be an excess to pay or a maximum limit on what you can claim.
Have you got the right level of car insurance?
This article is provided by the Money Advice Service.
