Not a good idea when there are thieves about – you could end up losing your loved ones’ gifts!
We all have our secret hiding places to stop our loved ones from finding their presents before Christmas Day arrives but some people’s idea of a good hiding place is quite worrying.
According to new research gathered by the insurance company Allianz, one place that a lot of people seem to like hiding gifts is in their car, which leaves them vulnerable to thieves and could lead to a sad start to the festive season.
A whopping seven in 10 people would hide Christmas presents in their vehicle © Copyright Richard Hoare and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
During the study, the insurance company asked 1,000 people in the UK where they hid their loved ones’ Christmas gifts in the run-up to Christmas and a staggering seven in 10 (71%), said they would hide gifts in their car; a whopping 51% owned up to actually doing so already.
It’s not only smaller gifts that people would risk storing in their vehicles before Christmas, with 27% saying they would hide presents costing over £100 in their car!
And even more alarming is the fact that 9% of those questioned said they would hide gifts worth over £200 in their vehicle!
The most popular gifts that people said they would, or did hide in their vehicle’s boot or on their car’s back seat, were toys for the children, tablets and even jewellery.
Another frightening revelation to come out of the survey, was the fact that people were risking hiding presents in their vehicles way before Christmas Eve – 57% said they would hide gifts in their car from around two to five days before the 25th, whilst 16% admitted that they would store them in their vehicle for as long as six to 10 days.
And one in 10 admitted that they would keep gifts and presents stored in their car for over 10 days.
The Allianz survey also discovered that it’s the women (72%) who would most likely think about using their vehicle as a hiding place but it was the men who admitted that they do it already and quite often (52%.)
Head of Motor, Home and Niche Insurance at Allianz, Andy Poppleton, said that people hiding presents in their vehicle risk the danger that come Christmas morning, they won’t have any gifts to give out to their loved ones.
“People are taking a high risk by hiding presents in their cars. It’s also possible that their insurance policy will not cover high value items left in the car,” added Mr Poppleton. According to Allianz, they receive around 70 reports of vehicle theft every month – so please find somewhere safer than your car to hide Christmas gifts!
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