UK DOWNLOAD SPEND HITS £700 MILLION IN 2010
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
• More than £300 million (42 per cent) worth of downloads and digital content - such as music, videos and video games - goes uninsured every year
• UK spend on gadgets and downloads doubles in five years
• One in four Brits (23 per cent*) have no idea how much their gadgets and downloads are worth
Despite Brits spending an average of £453 each on gadgets and downloads such as music and videos per year, more than £300 million worth isn’t fully insured, according to home insurer swiftcover.com.
The huge amount of content available for download alone has grown exponentially during the past few years, resulting in a total UK spend of £700 million, equal to £19 for every UK adult. Moreover, almost two million UK adults admitted to spending at least £100 per year on downloads.
There has been an overwhelming acceptance of online content across the UK, but swiftcover.com’s research demonstrates a startling lack of understanding when considering the value of downloads. Worryingly, a quarter (23 per cent) admitted to having “no idea” how much their gadgets and downloads are worth.
Despite spending more than £700 million on downloads including music, film, e-books and video games, a third (35 per cent) of adults haven’t backed up their digital hauls. Furthermore, 43 per cent of those polled had taken no security measures whatsoever to guard their expensive electronics from attack even though digital content is now a fundamental part of a traditional British home.
James Barclay, home underwriting manager at swiftcover.com, said: “It’s staggering that we take downloading content for granted these days without a second thought for its monetary worth. Clearly it’s important to recognise how much gadgets such as PCs, laptops and MP3s are worth however people should not ignore digital assets such as music, videos or even e-books, as they often have a substantial value.”
With more content now being downloaded than ever before, it would be beneficial for anybody spending a lot of time and money on downloads to think about what would happen if their collection were to get lost, damaged or stolen. Even though some download sites may let you re-download a certain amount of content, the cost of replacing your entire collection could prove to be an unnecessary expense.
The research was commissioned for swiftcover.com’s new home insurance product, which includes £500 cover for digital assets such as MP3s or films stored on a computer or digital media player, alongside competitive cover for gadgets and home entertainment systems.
For more information on swiftcover.com home insurance visit www.swiftcover.com/homeinsurance
ENDS
About swiftcover.com’s research:
*1000 respondents participated in the survey between 29th June and the 3rd of July 2010. The sample was drawn at random from an online panel with quotas set for age and gender.
• £700m – 38 million (UK adults online, according to latest ONS stats) x £19 (average amount spent per adult on content)
• Two million people - five per cent of the 38 million who spend over £100
• £300m - 42 per cent uninsured x £700m
• Average spend on gadgets in 2005: £199
Notes to Editors
For press enquiries please contact:
Luke O’Mahony or Sean Williams
Brazil (PR agency for swiftcover.com)
020 7785 7383
swiftcover@agencybrazil.com
About swiftcover:
Based in Cobham, Surrey and employing over 1000 people, www.swiftcover.com started trading in June 2005 and was born out of a desire to revolutionise the general insurance market.
swiftcover.com offers car, home, travel and pet insurance online, and is Britain's only insurance company without call centres, which means that the cost savings can be passed directly onto the customer and premiums are kept low. In 2008 swiftcover.com featured as the cheapest insurance quote on the comparison website moneysupermarket.com more often than any other insurer.
This powerful operating model combined with successful marketing and competitive pricing has proven to be a tremendous success. In 2008 swiftcover.com achieved over half a million live policies and in May 2009 sold their one millionth policy. They are considered to be the fastest-growing insurer in the UK.
In 2007, AXA UK acquired swiftcover.com. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Insurance UK PLC which forms part of AXA Group.
About AXA:
AXA UK is a part of the AXA Group. AXA is a world leader in financial protection. AXA’s operations are diverse with major operations in Western Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. AXA employs 120,000 staff and tied agents and, as of June 30 2006, had €1,091 billion in assets under management. AXA reported total IFRS revenues of €72 billion and IFRS underlying earnings of €3,258 million for the full year 2005. Our previous company performance is not a guide to how we may perform in the future.
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