Is your garden insurance covering everything

I have just spent over £600 on a new laptop computer and I am very pleased too. It's not top of the range but hey, it has a fast processing speed, 4gb of memory and enough storage to suck in the highest resolution photographs - it does the job.

I now have the flexibility to travel and take my everyday office with me and the built in wi-fi lets me hook up to adhoc networks wherever. I also have the flexibility to work in the garden if I so wish.

It crossed my mind that if I did choose to work in the garden, I would not leave my laptop unattended if I decided to pop to the shops or go out for the day.

I would lock it in the house, out of sight and secure in the knowledge that my insurance would cover the cost should the house burn down or the house was broken into and the laptop stolen.

It's funny how I take this view on a piece of high tech equipment - it applies to my Cannon G10 camera too - yet I think nothing of leaving a £2,000 patio set on the terrace.

I have read an article on the Moneysupermarket site today that highlights how so many householders are under insured for their garden.

"Whether you've picked out new sun loungers or bought a brand new barbecue in recent weeks chances are that the value of the items you keep in your garden reaches £1,000s - indeed the average garden contains more than £700 worth of plants, trees, bushes and shrubs alone according to research from Marks & Spencer.

Yet despite this, most home insurance policies only cover outdoor items up to a value of around £500 - meaning you could be well under-insured in the event of a theft, malicious damage, storm or other type of loss."

It's so true. I can think back to my last garden - I spent so much on plants and materials. Some ironwork that had been specially commissioned by a blacksmith but I can also picture many of my clients gardens which were left exposed to unscrupulous raiders when the house was left unattended for a day or more.

One of my clients even had the patio stolen one day. I kid you not - an old stone cottage on the outskirts of Selborne in Hampshire dating back to about the 1600's.

The property was left empty most weekdays as the clients lived primerily in London because their work was there. At least four days of the week the house, located in a sleepy lane and surrounded by trees and hedges, was an easy target for thieves and, in a single day the old York stone flagged patio - about four tonnes of it - was lifted and driven off site.

There was so much else that I can remember would have been vulnerable. An expensive submerged pond pump, a tennis net in the court behind the house, large stone garden ornaments, wheel barrows and gardening tools not to mention thousands of pounds worth of plants.

If you are planning to employ a gardener or landscaper then it is worth doing your homework before hand.

The BBC reports a group of 'cowboy' gardeners who are currently working in the the mid Wales area near Llandrindod Wells, Powys, who are not only carrying out shoddy work, they are using the opportunity to distract householders to steal from them.

It's worth checking your policy.