A passion for fashion but are you insured?

Brits may be carrying personal debt to the tune of £1 trillion, but that hasn’t stopped us from investing in our appearance. Twenty-five per cent of Brits own £2,000 or more worth of clothes, shoes and accessories, and six per cent estimate the value of their wardrobe at more than £5,000. However, despite our passion for fashion, many of us have not insured our clothes, shoes and accessories, with £13 billion of uninsured glad rags lying around in our wardrobes. This is of concern as 20 per cent of us own up to three pricey designer items.

Lack of job doesn’t mean lack of clothes, either. According to the research 69 per cent of people without a steady income have bought clothes which they have then forgotten about. Some 14 per cent of people without paid employment own up to £500 worth of clothes and five per cent have clothes worth £5,000 or more. People who are not working may have four to six designer items in their wardrobes and are more likely to own more shoes.  Only 27 per cent of those with jobs own between one and five pairs, while the figure for those without jobs is 34 per cent.

Phil Southgate of Prudential Home Insurance, which conducted the research, commented: ‘It is concerning that despite the average Brit being in £27,455 worth of debt, many are still prepared to spend so much on fashion regardless of whether they have a steady income.  The increasing popularity of low-cost clothing shops means that people are encouraged to spend money on a regular basis with the growing trend for disposable clothing.’

He also urged people to make a regular assessment of the value of their wardrobes to make sure that they are appropriately insured, adding: ‘We would also urge people to keep receipts as proof of purchase and for expensive items it is worth taking pictures as evidence, should you have to make a claim on your insurance policy.’