Halifax General Insurance Services has advised mobile `phone users to check their `phone insurance plans to prevent double billing. The company has estimated that the unnecessary double-cover is costing mobile `phone users £100m per year.
Halifax said the double-billing could occur if mobile `phone suppliers sold users insurance cover with their `phones.
The company has also issued a list of tips to keep children's `phones safe. The Home office reported that an estimated 500,000 children were the victims of mobile `phone theft in 2001, Halifax said. More than 700,000 handsets were stolen last year, mostly from children under the age of 15.
Halifax Insurance general manager Howard Posner said: "This increase in mobile `phone crime and the high profile cases reported nationally will have worried many parents.
"It is important that children are aware of the risk of theft and they are given enough information to be able to use their `phones and be safe."
