Sydney hotspots for stolen, damaged digital devices revealed by insurer IAG

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This was published 7 years ago

Sydney hotspots for stolen, damaged digital devices revealed by insurer IAG

By Kim Arlington
Updated

His devices are magnets for misfortune.

Flynn O'Byrne-Inglis had one smartphone stolen from a friend's car. He recently cracked the screen on his mobile for a second time. There was the time someone dropped a drink on his laptop while he was DJing at a house party. And three of his iPhones have drowned.

"I went for a swim so gave my phone to a friend who put it in his pocket, and someone pushed him in," Mr O'Byrne-Inglis, 25, said. "I replaced the water-damaged one and the next week I had the phone in my pocket and got pushed into a pool."

Mr O'Byrne-Inglis, a post-graduate law student, said he doesn't like to be without his phone. "It's like wearing shoes, except much more expensive [to replace]."

Flynn O'Byrne-Inglis has had to replace several smartphones because of theft or damage.

Flynn O'Byrne-Inglis has had to replace several smartphones because of theft or damage.Credit: Steven Siewert

Australians are very attached to their mobile phones, research shows.

Last year's mobile consumer survey by Deloitte found that, on average, we look at our smartphones more than 30 times a day. Thirty-one per cent of people - and 46 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 years - felt "addicted" to their device, the latest EY Digital Australia: State of the Nation report found.

But as digital devices saturate society, the cost of theft and damage is high.

More than 4000 claims for damage to consumer electronics, adding up to almost $4.7 million, were received last financial year by Australia's largest general insurer, IAG — a figure that excludes Victoria, Tasmania and Northern Territory.

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Valuables such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, notebooks and digital cameras were the items most commonly targeted by thieves after jewellery. IAG's figures show more than 4300 electronic devices were stolen in the past financial year, costing almost $3.4 million to replace.

The data also reveals the hotspots for claims for damage to and theft of electronic devices, with Castle Hill, Woollahra, Blacktown, Epping, Potts Point, Oakhurst and Chatswood emerging as the Sydney suburbs with the most claims for damage.

Baulkham Hills, Tregear, Quakers Hill, Greystanes and Leichhardt were among the top 10 suburbs for most items stolen.

Woollahra, Lindfield and Castle Hill topped the list for the cost of damaged items, while Dubbo, Baulkham Hills, Fairlight and Mosman were the places with the highest cost of items stolen.

"Portable and easy-to-grab electronic devices have increasingly become a hot target for thieves," the executive general manager of innovation for IAG, James Orchard, said, adding that "the average cost of replacing a stolen or damaged gadget is around $5000".

While insurance companies offer coverage for portable valuables as extensions to home and contents insurance, Mr Orchard said insurance was adapting as technology evolved and people's lifestyles changed. IAG recently launched a product covering single items against theft and accidental damage.

"We're seeing a change in lifestyle habits, like people choosing to live at home or rent for longer and move around more, which means they might not have home and contents insurance to protect them if a valuable item is damaged or stolen," Mr Orchard said.

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At the same time, he said, the number of digital devices in Australia was growing. The Deloitte survey found almost 80 per cent of people under the age of 55 owned a smartphone, while six in 10 Australians owned multiple devices. Only four per cent of Australians aged 18 to 34 years did not own a smartphone, the EY report found.

The risk of theft, loss and damage increased as devices became smaller and more portable, Mr Orchard said. "They're lightweight, it's easier to damage them ... and that is reflected in the statistics."

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