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Britain's motorists leave £millions in their gloveboxes (and the odd pair of gloves as well)

London, May 24, 2003 -- Research out today from Halifax Car Insurance (HCI) shows that the contents of Britain's gloveboxes, rather than keeping drivers' hands warm, are providing handfuls of 'hot' goods for car thieves. The research, carried out by ICM for HCI, into what motorists keep in their gloveboxes shows that only 3% of car owners actually keep gloves in their glovebox, yet nearly a third of motorists store CD's and tapes there.

The company estimates that claims for CD's and tapes stolen from cars each year could be costing the motor insurance industry up to £8million* a year. HCI also estimates that another £4m* a year is claimed for stolen sunglasses, an item that 16% of drivers admit to leaving in their glovebox. Motorists themselves will also be losing out as most insurance policies will only provide a limited amount of cover for personal goods left in the car.

Alarmingly, 11% of car owners also admitted keeping their car logbook in the glovebox, which can provide an easy route to a swift sale for an opportunist thief. Furthermore, 6% admitted to leaving personal items such as their driving licence or insurance details in their glovebox. Some drivers even confess to storing a spare set of car keys there. Thankfully, only one in twenty car owners said they left a mobile phone in their glovebox - with men twice as likely as women to do this and the 65+ age group four times more likely to do this than those in the 18-24 age bracket.

But when it comes to actually keeping emergency or useful items in the glovebox, many potentially crucial items were low down on the list. For example only 6% of car owners carry a first aid box, 5% de-icer or scraper and 3% basic car maintenance tools such as a tyre-pressure guage.

The research also revealed that, while manufacturers boast of air-conditioning and compartments available in gloveboxes, the features motorists would most like are more space and a built in pen and paper. Although around a quarter of motorists did say they don't need a glovebox at all.

Mike Pickard, head of underwriting at HCI said: "This research is a worry for insurers but it's important to realise that leaving valuables in the glovebox can also be costly for the motorist. Most insurance policies will only cover £100 of personal effects left in the car - so if you leave a few CD's, a pair of sunglasses and a mobile phone, it may not just be the insurance company footing a hefty bill.

"Contrary to many people's expectations, a lock on the glovebox doesn't really help - it simply makes for a more expensive claim to fix the damage caused by forcing the lock open. We want to encourage drivers to think carefully about what they leave in their cars and whether they are making life easy for an opportunist thief."

When it came to regional differences the research showed that the most likely to keep CD's and tapes in the car are drivers in the South East with drivers in the south west the least likely. Scottish motorists are nearly twice as likely to leave their logbook in the car as the national average, but when it comes to mobile phones, a huge 17% of car owners in the north east left their phone in the glovebox against a national average of 5%.

Overall, the worst offenders for leaving 'attractive' items in the car are motorists in Yorkshire and Humberside who scored above average for leaving CD's/tapes, sunglasses, logbooks, personal motoring documents (insurance/driving licence) and mobile phones in their gloveboxes. The most security conscious would appear to be those in the East and East Midlands who scored average or below when it came to leaving these items in the car.

Finally, Mike Pickard has some suggestions for motor manufacturers: "We think that a re-branding of the glovebox might be appropriate given that only 3% of drivers use it for it's nominal purpose. A built in pen and paper would be great and maybe a range of sizes of glovebox or the option to leave it out completely could be introduced. But, most of all we would love manufacturers to add 'check your glovebox' to the voice control system before drivers were able to leave the car!"

Notes to Editors:

1) Calculation of loss for CDs/tapes and sunglasses

There are no exact claims figures for these items, however HCI have made calculations based on a sample of their own claims statistics and multiplying this by the total market. Additionally, the total figure takes account of the £100 limit for personal effects stolen from the car, ie the figure may be much higher but customers themselves will be liable.

2) Top ten items stored in gloveboxes

The top ten items left in Britain's gloveboxes are:

1 CDs/tapes                         7 Tissues
2 Car manual                        8 Torch
3 Map/directions                    9 Sweets/food
4 Sunglasses                        10= Duster/cloth
5 Pen & paper                       10= Personal items 
6 Car logbook                       (driving licence/insurance)
                                    10= First aid box

3) Top ten suggestions from HCI of what to keep in your glovebox

1 Pen & paper                        6 De-icer/scraper
2 Car manual                         7 Disposable camera (for recording 
3 Maps/directions                      accidents)
4 Emergency phone numbers            8 First aid box
5 Water/drinks                       9 Cloth (for wiping windows)
                                     10 Torch

4) About Halifax Car Insurance

Halifax Car Insurance is administered and underwritten by esure Insurance Limited, part of the HBOS Group. esure is a member of the General Insurance Standards Council. Halifax Car Insurance is available to drivers aged 20 to 78 years old with any level of no claim discount, subject to normal underwriting criteria.

It is not available in Northern Ireland or the Channel Islands. Customers buying on the internet receive a 10% discount and all existing Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers also receive a 10% discount.