One in five people have fallen victim to burglary - and many of these have lost valuables due to the predictable places they hide them in.
Many people's "safe place", in which they hide their valuables at home, is in fact very vulnerable to thieves.
According to new analysis from Halifax Home Insurance, released today, typical hiding places such as under the bed, in the sock drawer and on top of the wardrobe are often the first places where a burglar will search for valuables.
A poll conducted by the firm also showed that, despite conceding that stashing precious items in the sock drawer was "typical", 23 percent of people still use it as a hiding place. Unsurprisingly, one in five respondents revealed that they had previously fallen victim to burglary.
David Rochester from Halifax Home Insurance advised: "This research is proof we need to get smarter in our thinking on protecting our possessions. Safes are a good idea as this allows your possessions to be locked away. Opening a safe would be time consuming for a thief, or difficult to transport, therefore making the thief think twice about taking it."
He added: "Our homes and contents are very valuable to us and all steps to protect them should be taken. Burglar alarms, window locks and door chains are all great deterrents. The harder we make it for the thief to gain entry the better. However, on the terrible occasion where they do gain entrance we need to think really carefully on how we can prevent them from locating our favourite possessions."
Halifax released the new figures in the run-up to National Home Security Week, which starts on Saturday.
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