Don't let beach burglars snatch your booty on the beach this summer

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When you're sunning yourself, swimming and snoozing on a foreign beach, don't let burglars bag your booty.

With a value of goods in beach bags ever increasing, Halifax Travel Insurance is warning British holiday makers to remain extra vigilant this summer.

Britons suffer 1.4 million incidents of holiday theft each year, and Southern Europe is the holiday theft hotspot, accounting for 48% of thefts.

13% occur while holidaymakers are sunning themselves by the pool or on the beach.

Beach bags can now carry up to £1000 worth of goods, with fashion conscious beach-goers parading expensive accessories like mp-3 players, digital cameras, mobile phones and designer sunglasses.

The modern beach-goer is now an easy target for the opportunistic beach burglar. Mobile phones have a typical value of £100, digital cameras start at around £150, while people generally carry larger amounts of foreign currency than if they were at home.

Paul Birkhead, Underwriting Manager at Halifax Travel Insurance says: "Long gone are the days when the contents of a beach bag included no more than a towel, sun cream and a few warm sandwiches. Today's beach bag is a fashion statement and holiday makers like to make sure they have all their fashion accessories to hand."

Here are some safety tips to bare in mind when you're on the beach:

• Remain vigilant at all times.

• Never leave beach bags unattended as this might invalidate an insurance claim.

• Make sure you have cover - if you're normal contents insurance doesn't cover foreign travel, get some extra cover.

• Make sure your insurance will cover the full amount of the goods stolen.

• Single item and upper limits apply to travel insurance policies and holidaymakers, so do your research.

• In the last five years, £1.5 billion worth of items were not covered as the holidaymaker either had insufficient or no travel insurance.

Here are items you might find in a typical 21st century beach bag, and how much they might be worth (source: Halifax Travel Insurance)

• Loan finder
• Compare loans
• Loans guide
• Refused credit
• Best buy loans
• Online credit check
• 0% interest credit cards