06 May 2011
Posted by Miriam O'Neill 
Nearly half of Irish residents have invested in home entertainment equipment within the last two years, a category which now includes 3D televisions, Blu ray disc players and motion sensor games consoles among other innovations, according to a recent AA Home Insurance poll.
“Perhaps true to the “boys and their toys” idiom, the results of our Home Insurance poll shows that a higher percentage of males than females have invested in home entertainment gadgets within the last two years.” Remarks John Farrell, Commercial Director, AA Insurance. 51% of the males surveyed by AA Home Insurance compared with 39% of the females indicated that have bought one or more home entertainment devices within the last two year period.
Not unsurprisingly, the AA Home Insurance poll also highlights a stronger demand for the latest home entertainment technologies among the younger generation. 53% of the 17 to 24 years olds polled by the AA said they had splurged on home entertainment devices within the last two years compared to 37.4% of those over the age of 65.
With reports that burglaries were up almost 10% in Ireland during the first quarter of 2011 compared with the same period last year[i], AA Home Insurance is reminding homeowners and tenants to make sure any new home entertainment purchases are factored into their house contents cover.
“More people are choosing to have fun in their own homes these days often due to reduced disposable income.” says Farrell. “With this, we’re seeing many households upgrade their home entertainment systems but forgetting to bolt their new investments onto their house contents policy. A decent home cinema system or 3D television for example costs €1,000 upwards, so it’s well worth adding them to your home content policy so that they are covered in the event of fire, flooding, burglary and depending on your policy, accidental damage.”
Just 17% of respondents who indicated to AA Home insurance that they have invested in home entertainment within the last two years indicated they have incorporated the items at their full value into their home contents policies.
And on an inter county level Leitrim, Monaghan and Meath residents emerged as most likely to have splashed out on home entertainment equipment in recent times.
Ends
Notes to the editor;
Fig. 1 Whether or not respondents have invested in home entertainment within the last two years (Based on 15,280 responses):
| Yes | 45.9% |
| No | 54.2% |
Fig. 2 Of those that invested in home entertainment within the last two years, extent to which they adjusted their home contents policy to reflect the purchase (Based on 6,975 responses):
| Yes, for the full value of the item(s) | 16.9% |
| Yes, for some of the value of the item(s) | 7.5% |
| No, I made no change to my insurance cover | 75.6% |
Fig. 3 Whether or not FEMALE respondents have invested in home entertainment within the last two years (Based on 6,418 responses):
| Yes | 39.2% |
| No | 61.0% |
Fig. 4 Whether or not MALE respondents have invested in home entertainment within the last two years (Based on 8,690 responses):
| Yes | 51.0% |
| No | 49.2% |
Whether or not respondents have invested in home entertainment within the last two years (Based on 15,280 responses):
| Yes | 45.9% |
| No | 54.2% |
Fig.5 No. of respondents split by county who have invested in home entertainment within the last 2 years (Based on 15,280 respondents):
| County | |
| Carlow ( 153 responses) | 47.7% |
| Cavan ( 168 responses) | 44.3% |
| Clare ( 299 responses) | 47.8% |
| Cork ( 1,688 responses) | 45.9% |
| Donegal (227 responses) | 46.5% |
| Dublin ( 5672 responses) | 46.7% |
| Galway ( 678 responses) | 43.0% |
| Kerry ( 257 responses) | 42.0% |
| Kildare ( 1012 responses) | 45.6% |
| Kilkenny (200 responses) | 43.4% |
| Laois (186 responses) | 44.3% |
| Leitrim (81 responses) | 57.5% |
| Limerick (519 responses) | 45.9% |
| Longford ( 88 responses) | 42.5% |
| Louth (330 responses) | 47.0% |
| Mayo (278 responses) | 46.2% |
| Meath (706 responses) | 49.6% |
| Monaghan (80 responses) | 50.6% |
| Offaly (150 responses) | 41.3% |
| Roscommon ( 154 responses) | 47.7% |
| Sligo (159 responses) | 45.6% |
| Tipperary (340 responses) | 45.1% |
| Waterford ( 329 responses) | 42.4% |
| Westmeath ( 219 responses) | 39.9% |
| Wexford (425 responses) | 46.7% |
| Wicklow ( 675 responses) | 44.0% |
Fig. 6 Of those who purchased new home entertainment within the last two years, number on a county by county basis who adjusted their house contents insurance to reflect the full value of the items purchased (Based on 6,975 responses):
| County | |
| Carlow ( 74 responses) | 23.0% |
| Cavan ( 73 responses) | 31.5% |
| Clare (142 responses) | 16.2% |
| Cork (773 responses) | 14.2% |
| Donegal (105 responses) | 15.2% |
| Dublin (2,617 responses) | 16.8% |
| Galway (286 responses) | 14.3% |
| Kerry (106 responses) | 11.3% |
| Kildare (457 responses) | 15.3% |
| Kilkenny (87 responses) | 23.0% |
| Laois (82 responses) | 15.9% |
| Leitrim (46 responses) | 28.3% |
| Limerick (238 responses) | 18.5% |
| Longford (37 responses) | 24.3% |
| Louth (153 responses) | 13.7% |
| Mayo ( 126 responses) | 15.9% |
| Meath ( 349 responses) | 17.8% |
| Monaghan ( 39 responses) | 17.9% |
| Offaly (60 responses) | 20.0% |
| Roscommon (73 responses) | 16.4% |
| Sligo (73 responses) | 13.7% |
| Tipperary (151 responses) | 11.3% |
| Waterford ( 139 responses) | 18.0% |
| Westmeath ( 88 responses) | 15.9% |
| Wexford (194 responses) | 19.1% |
| Wicklow (295 responses) | 22.4% |
[i] Data sourced from www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/crime_justice/current/recordedcrime.pdf
