Six of the most expensive items in your home

The home is a beautiful thing, far greater than the sum of its parts in offering a sanctuary for you and your family. But some of its parts are worth significantly more than others, and worrying about repairing or even replacing them can weigh heavily on the mind of the household. With more than 3 million items thieved each year, and countless more spills, breakages and losses besides, it’s important to keep track of your belongings. With that in mind, here are six of the most expensive items in your home.

Computers and Electronics

Consumer electronics represent some of the largest single investments you can make in your home, short of house infrastructure. Flat-screen televisions and hi-fi systems can range in price, but even the lower-budget options have a significant repair or replacement cost. The technology in your home can not only be the most expensive of items, but often the most portable. Handheld consumer electronics from smartphones to laptops and tablets are easily broken, and commonly lost or even stolen owing to their smaller form factor.

Home Furniture

Furniture items are a significant expense in the home – whether belonging to you, or part of a furnished rental agreement. With regard to upholstered furniture, spills, rips and tears can be particularly difficult to repair in isolation. Professional repairs can be undertaken, but these cost dearly – as does complete replacement. Tenancy agreements often include wear-and-tear clauses, but without tenant’s content insurance larger damages can be expensive for landlord and tenant alike.

Gas Boiler

Boilers are dependable appliances, and necessary for delivering central heating to your home. They represent a significant up-front cost, and in the event of breakdown can become even more expensive. Technician callouts alone are costly, and parts even more so.

Jewellery

Personal effects often have more than sentimental value; items of jewellery are perhaps the most expensive items in a given home for their size. Jewellery is often found to be the most commonly-stolen item in home burglaries, making it extremely important to store them safely and securely in order to prevent significant losses.

Tools

Tools also rank highly as far as commonly-stolen items are concerned, and can represent a high level of investment – especially where power tools and specialist instruments are concerned. Tools are often left unattended in sheds and outdoor buildings, making them particularly easy to pilfer despite their high price. Small expenditure on higher security can prevent the high cost of tools being stolen, whether in better locks or storage of more expensive tools indoors.

Bicycles & Transport

Any modes of personal transport in the home represent significant costs in comparison to other personal effects; bicycles can be sourced cheaply, but high-quality road-bikes can be as expensive as a car up-front. Motorised personal vehicles such as Segways and scooters are also increasing in popularity, and can be even more expensive to own and maintain. Repair costs are high, but theft is also common for these items.