14th July 2008

The £200 million garage sale

Motorists not taking advantage of savings to be made on car insurance

Research announced today by comparethemarket.com, the price comparison site, reveals that motorists with a garage are collectively losing out on a potential saving of more than £200 million* by not storing their car in their garage.

Two-thirds (62%) of consumers don't store their car in their garage when not in use, instead preferring to use the extra space for household items and garage tools.  With only 5% using their garage just for their car, it's clear that the garage has lost its position as the humble abode for cars. 

"Naturally, many householders take advantage of the extra storage space a garage provides however our research shows that using comparethemarket.com, motorists could save approximately £26** on their car insurance just by using the garage for its real purpose, and storing their car in it," said Jeremy Moll, head of insurance, comparethemarket.com.  "Motorists also need to be aware that if they have declared on their insurance policy that they keep their car in their garage and they don't, they may not be covered should anything happen to the car, for example, it gets vandalised or stolen."

In addition, householders revealed the value of items stored in their garage was worth between a massive £2.5 - £5.1 billion***.  Individually, this amounts to goods valued between £501 - £1000 with a further 13% revealing that items in the garage were worth between £2001 - £5000. 

With householders using the garage as storage, security is crucial.  More than half (54%) of the respondents revealed that their garages were stand-alone and not connected to the main house.  Reassuringly, the majority secured their garage with lock and key (77%) however only 17% said the garage has a burglar alarm (either connected to the house system or a separate burglar alarm). 

"Householders need to check their insurance policies to ensure they are covered for any break-ins in the garage, especially when not connected to the main house or the burglar alarm," said Jeremy. "Where possible householders should cover themselves and not only use lock and key but also connect the garage to a burglar alarm.  As well as better security, this can help to keep insurance premiums down."

The research also revealed that consumers are most likely to keep gardening equipment in their garage (74%) with just under half (46%) also storing old furniture and a quarter (26%) using it for white goods. 

Regional variances included:

  • Respondents in Brighton are most likely to store items of the highest value in their garage with 11% admitting the items in their garage had a value of more than £5001.  This is compared to the national average of just 2%. 
  • Liverpudlians are the most safety conscious with just under a third (30%) connecting the garage to the main house alarm.  This is compared to just 5% of householders in Southampton doing the same.
  • 10% of Brummies don't protect their garage at all compared to only 1.5% in Bristol
  • Car owners in Birmingham are least likely to keep their car in their garage (70%)
  • Respondents in Cardiff stand to lose the most if items in their garage get stolen or damaged with two-fifths saying storage in their garage had emotional value (e.g. photographs, old school books etc), compared to just 8% in Norwich

Car owners and householders can save money by adopting the following easy measures:

  • If you can, store your car in your garage. Not only is this safer but can reduce your insurance premiums Don't be tempted to lie on your insurance policies either - if you state you keep your car in your garage overnight but then it gets stolen from the street, you may find you won't be covered when you try and claim
  • Again, where possible secure your garage with lock and key and connect to the main burglar alarm.  If you have items of high value in your garage you may even opt for investing in a separate alarm system just for your garage
  • Try to avoid keeping items of too much value in your garage - as well as theft, items are more likely to get damaged through something like flood.  Maybe consider your loft as an alternative storage place

* Based on the fact there are around 25 million households in the UK (Source: BBC), 57% of these have garages (Source: RAC Foundation) and 62% of these do not use their garage to store their car.  Saving based on each person saving an average of £262 on their policy should they keep their car in their garage
** Saving based on 31-year old female living in SE London owning a Ford Focus with '51' reg plate
*** Based on 41% of respondents storing items in their garage valued between £501 - £1000 (multiplied by the number of garages in the UK with consumers storing items worth between £501 - £1000 in their garage).