Women encouraged to list expensive heels under home contents

Home insurance experts have encouraged female home owners to make sure that expensive heels are protected under their home and contents policy, following the publication of new research which has shown that the average woman spends a great deal on new shoes but fails to insure new or expensive purchases.

A survey of female home owners has revealed that the average British woman owns 20 pairs of shoes and buys eight new pairs every year. However, despite spending between £288 and £600 on new shoes per year, the average woman is unlikely to insure her purchases or to list expensive or new shoes under the items specially protected by their home and contents cover.

What's more, the average woman is thought to own 11 pairs of shoes that are never or very rarely worn.

Insurance expert Lee Mooney has encouraged female homeowners to consider the cost of their shoe collections when estimating the value of their homes and contents.
"It's staggering to think about how much the average woman's shoe collection could be worth," Mooney said. "The research shows just how much most women will spend on their footwear every year, and not only that, but how much many will spend on shoes they don't actually wear.

"Whereas a few decades ago shoes may have been considered an indulgent purchase, it's now the norm to spend a considerable amount of money on them every year. It's easy to forget the value of items like this when assessing the value of your household contents, but in case the worst happens it's worth making sure they're properly covered by insurance - particularly for those who have expensive shoes in their collection."

Wed, 04 May 2011 02:01:00 GMT