It costs £5bn to protect your fortune

Britain's affluent classes have spent £5 billion on security measures to keep their wealth and homes safe.

Data from home insurer Zurich shows that nine millionaires in ten have spent as much as £30,000 on security systems, with one in five concerned they are targeted by criminals because of their wealth.

And this fear might be borne out - with almost two affluent addresses in five (38 per cent) having been broken into and almost a fifth (19 per cent) suffering at the hands of car thieves.

"As specialist insurers of historic houses, fine art collections and jewellery, we strongly recommend that those who feel more at risk of crime due to their wealth, check that they have sufficient quality risk prevention measures in place," said Kris Coombes of Zurich Private Clients.

"This should start with a personal visit from a respected insurer to provide risk management advice for their assets and ensure they have insurance designed to cater for the risks they face.

"Wealthy individuals should also check that lifestyle cover is included as part of their insurance; for us this includes insurance for identity fraud, cover for car-jacking to the providing of temporary relocation in the event of stalking."

And it is more 'modern' crimes that worry the UK's richest residents the most.

Three in five (58 per cent) are worried about mugging, 54 per cent are concerned about identity theft, and two in five (40 per cent) are afraid of car-jacking.

When this is coupled with fears about being held to ransom (30 per cent) and becoming the victims of organised crime (29 per cent), the vast sums spent on security measures are easily explained.

Hamish Brown, former head of stalking at the Metropolitan Police, commented: "What’s important to remember is that the likelihood of being affected by a serious crime, for example, kidnapping or ransom, is still very slim.

"Interestingly, it’s the fear of crime that’s actually impacting upon people’s anxieties. Whilst this fear is unlikely to go away, there are steps that the wealthy can take to provide peace of mind, and this includes seeking advice from security and insurance experts."

To help ease security fears, Zurich offers the following tips:

Buy a shredder. There has been a huge rise in identity crime and fraud in recent years. Ensure that all your personal documents, bills, account details etc are either securely stored at home or shredded once you have finished with them. Burglars will now actively look for this kind of documentation.

Make sure your intruder alarm is linked to an alarm receiving centre. The police will not respond to a burglar alarm going off unless it has been confirmed. If you only have an audible alarm system, you are relying solely on your neighbours or members of the public to alert the police if you are away on holiday at the time.

Buy a personal attack alarm. These are small hand-held devices which when activated emit a high-pitched noise to draw attention to you and a potential attacker.

Check the integrity of your perimeter security. Ensure that garden gates are secured with deadlocks and padlocks, fit movement sensitive security lighting and make sure that CCTV cameras are digitally recorded.

Hide car keys at night. A growing number of vehicle thefts in the UK involve car key theft from the home. Try not to leave car keys near to the front door at night and if you do, ensure that your letterbox has a letterbox guard fitted to prevent car keys from being easily dragged through it. XXX

Comment on this story... 

Recommended ...