Social networking could lead to increase in home insurance premiums

The popularity boom in social networking has seen sites such as Facebook and Twitter become household names. But despite their enormous popularity, the sites have come with a number of problems, most of which relate to privacy issues. Now Confused.com is warning users of these sites that they could see home insurance premiums rise in the future as a result.

The news follows the furore created recently when a new website was set up that posted information about homes that were empty at particular times. PleaseRobMe.com hit the headlines after it claimed that it had posted the details on the site to highlight the dangers that revealing such information on social networking sites can lead to.

Some social networking sites use location-based technology that allow users to state where they are at any given time. The concern is that this information could clearly be of use to thieves who could then target homes when they know that no one is in.

It is this sensitive data that could see premiums rise to cover losses caused as a result. The head of home insurance at Confused.com, Darren Black, said that “we could see hikes of up to 10%” for people using social networking sites in the future. He also warned that “criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their information gathering”, and are using services such as Google Earth to plan burglaries.

Confused.com has provided some advice to users of social networking sites, suggesting that they should turn off location-based services unless absolutely necessary, and should refrain from posting their address or phone number details. The full advice can be found here.

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