'2.8 million' victims of distraction burglaries in last 5 years

Sainsbury's Home Insurance has found that 2.8 million UK households have been victim to a distraction burglary in the last five years.

Nearly three million UK households have encountered distraction burglars or bogus callers over the last five years, according to a news report.

Research conducted for Sainsbury's shows that six per cent of the country's adult population - around 2.8 million people - believe they have been targeted by criminals seeking to gain access to their property by claiming to be from a well-known organisation.

The average cost of goods stolen stands at £1,230 and over half (54 per cent) of victims did not report the crime to the police, despite the presence of the specialist Distraction Burglary Taskforce, which was set up by the government in 2000.

These figures highlight the need for contents and home insurance, with all age groups being affected by the trend. Around 370,000 16 to 24 year-olds (six per cent of the total population for that age range) have suffered at the hands of distraction burglars, as did some 640,000 (nine per cent) of 25 to 34 year-olds.

With many cheap insurance deals available, Sainsbury's home insurance manager Ben Tyte says that people should not take the risk of losing their valuables.

"Reports of an increase in domestic burglary are obviously a concern and these findings suggest that a worrying number of people are falling victim to so-called distraction burglary," he said.