Leeds burglary hotspot faces 20% insurance hike

Resident in a Leeds neighbourhood could face up to a 20% increase in their home insurance after the location came out top of the UKs’ burglary hotspots, according to Moneysupermarket.com.

The postcode, LS13, comes out top, closely followed by areas in Bradford, Leeds and Manchester.

Insurers use the data to help decide home insurance premiums. The revelations are likely to reopen the debate about postcoding and the broader topic about insurers using Big Data, a debate that is gaining momentum as it moves into the public arena.

LS13 is west of Leeds and incorporates Bramley – a mix of 1960s council estates and private suburbs – Gamble Hill, Moorside, Rodley and Swinnow.

Bradford postcode BD12, about five miles away, took second place.

North Finchley – N12 – in London came third, ahead of Eccles in Manchester – M30 – and the Romford postcode of RM3.

Below is a list of the UK postcode districts most likely to claim for theft on their home insurance. The second table is a list of the UK postcode districts least likely to claim for theft on their home insurance.

Moneysupermarket insurance analyst Hannah Jones, said: ‘While there are clearly some areas of the country with a higher proportion of insurance claims for burglary than others, this doesn’t actually mean the area is ‘rife’ with crime.

“Thieves often specifically target areas with wealthy residents, or quieter areas where there’s not a lot of passing foot traffic, where the rewards are potentially greater and the risk of being caught in the act may be lower.

“This year, the LS13 postcode in Leeds has taken the top spot for burglary insurance claims.”