How to keep your valuables safe on holiday

There’s a lot to think about when planning a holiday, from flights and car hire to local currency and how much sun lotion you’ll need. But learning how to keep valuables safe on holiday should also be a priority.

Sadly, some trips don’t always go as planned, particularly if something unpleasant happens to your belongings. Knowing how to prevent this is especially important if you travel with expensive, valuable items, such as jewellery or watches.

In this blog, we’ll go through our top tips for keeping your valuables safe on holiday and explore why you may want to consider insuring them, allowing you to relax and enjoy yourself as soon as you arrive.

How to keep your valuables safe while travelling

1. Be vigilant

Keeping your valuables safe while travelling to and from your destination is just as important as looking after them while you’re there.
Airports can be chaotic, so it’s easy to briefly lose sight of your belongings as they go through the X-ray machine.

This is especially true if you experience complications before retrieving your hand luggage, such as setting off a metal detector or being randomly selected for a security check. Unfortunately, opportunists have been known to take advantage of the havoc in airport security by stealing valuables from trays while people are distracted in security queues. As insurers will often not cover the theft of items which were not kept on your person, ensure you’re always vigilant of where your valuables are as you pass through security.

2. Keep valuables out of sight

It’s a good idea to avoid packing valuable items in a way that makes them easy to spot and steal. Always hide high-value items in a separate pouch or pocket that would be risky for a thief to access without gaining attention. You may also want to invest in a jewellery roll to properly store your items and prevent damage or loss—theft isn’t the only threat when travelling with precious cargo.

3. Never store valuables in checked baggage

We don’t blame you for considering this option based on what we discussed above, but it’s not an effective way of protecting your valuables while travelling. In fact, it can actually increase the risk of theft, loss, or damage. SITA’s latest Baggage Insights Report discovered that over 10 million bags have been delayed, lost, pilfered, or stolen in the last year.

So, if you want to keep your valuables safe on holiday, you should ideally store them safely in your hand luggage. It’s also worth ensuring that you keep your bag containing your valuables under the seat in front of you rather than in the overhead locker once you’ve boarded the plane. This way, your valuable items will always be under your close personal custody rather than away from you for hours on end.

4. Be selective about which valuables you take

Before taking your valuables abroad, ask yourself: Should I travel with them, or would it be better to leave them at home? At the very least, you should protect your valuables on holiday by being selective about the items you take.

Leaving your most sentimental items at home locked in a secure safe could be a good idea, as this limits the impact of being targeted by a thief or accidentally losing or damaging your property. Consider curating a small set of jewellery suitable for evening meals or more formal occasions instead of taking your favourite or most expensive pieces with you.

How to keep your valuables safe in your hotel room

1. Always use a safe

Storing valuables in a secure safe is the best way to protect them from theft. Most hotels have safes installed in each room or will provide one upon request at an extra charge (which is worth it for the peace of mind).

Never leave your valuables on show, even if you’re in your hotel room. Put them away properly in the same place within the safe when you’re done wearing them for the day. Aside from keeping valuables safe from theft on holiday, storing them in a safe can also ensure they stay in top condition—damage is much less likely to occur if items are stored out of the way. You might also want to invest in a travel jewellery box to prevent loss or damage when your jewellery is stored in the safe alongside other belongings.

2. Ask the receptionist to write your room number down

To avoid opportunist thieves, ask the receptionist to write down your hotel room number rather than say it out loud.
This ensures that no one will overhear your room number and target your room for the valuables you might be wearing when you check in.

3. Avoid using the provided door signs for room cleaning

Sometimes, hotels provide signs to hang on your door with instructions for the hotel staff, such as ‘do not disturb’ or ‘please clean’.
As helpful as these may be at times, be careful, as displaying a ‘please clean’ sign could alert a passerby that your room is empty. Instead, you can let the front desk know you wish for your room to be cleaned.

How to keep your valuables safe at the beach or pool

1. Avoid wearing valuables at the beach or pool when you can

First and foremost, the best thing you can do with your valuables is to leave them in the safe in your hotel room. Excursions or busy day trips are risky, especially if you’ll be spending time in areas known to be frequented by tourists. This alone can make you an easy target for thieves.

It’s also easier to drop your belongings or leave a bag behind when you’re distracted, so consider saving your valuables for the evening when fewer people are around and you’re more aware of your surroundings. You should always wear them discreetly and avoid walking down overly quiet or dimly lit streets.

2. Ensure someone is with the valuables at all times

Of course, you may forget to leave your valuables in the safe if it's something you always wear (such as a wedding ring). If this is the case, though, remove them before getting in the water and leave someone behind on the sand or poolside to watch over them. Most valuables insurance policies won’t cover stolen belongings left unattended, so if you take any watches or jewellery out with you, keep this in mind.

3. Invest in a waterproof pouch

If you are travelling alone and don't have someone to watch your valuables, invest in a waterproof pouch. You can find many waterproof pouches designed to secure valuables around your body to prevent them from getting lost or damaged.

Does travel or home insurance cover your valuables on holiday?

Different forms of insurance can have varying rules when paying out for valuables abroad. Some travel insurance may cover you for loss and theft, but what is covered, and for how much, is all down to the small print.

The devil, as they say, is in the detail. When claiming for valuables abroad, you can find yourself in a frustrating situation when you thought you were covered. Here are some things to look out for on your policy so you can properly protect your valuables while travelling.

Watch out for single-item caps

Some insurers apply surprisingly low caps on what they're prepared to pay out for valuables abroad. If your insurance has decided to limit the value of watch claims to £200 or £300, you'll be frustrated if your watch’s value is ten times that amount. In addition, an excess of £50 can easily lower the amount you get back.

It's easy to check these figures before you go, but impossible to argue them after your items have been damaged, lost or stolen.

Exceptions to the rules

There are also a few specific exceptions that can apply when you try to claim, including details about your circumstances that give insurers a reason not to pay out. For example, some insurers limit the timescale in which you must report issues with valuables abroad, either to them or the local police.

You manage your time differently when you're on holiday. You don't always notice something is missing and acting quickly to report your lost or stolen items isn't easy to fit around other plans. If you delay speaking to the police until late the following day but then discover that you should have notified them within 24 hours, you could be out of luck with your claim.

It may also matter where you are in the world. If you're planning a world tour, your policy may not cover you for some of the places you're going. The only way to know where is or isn't included in your cover is to look before you go or get cover that protects you worldwide, such as valuables insurance through Ripe.

No more ‘no claims’

Even if you manage to make a successful claim when dealing with valuables abroad, you will almost certainly find a sting in the tail. If you had a 'no claims' bonus on your home insurance, you'd no longer qualify and see a bump in your premium. Which, on top of the agony of losing your valuables and spoiling your holiday, will probably leave you with a sour taste in your mouth.

Specialist valuables insurance through Ripe

Taking your valuables abroad is totally fine. After all, the whole point of owning them is to be able to wear them on special occasions. But doing so without the right cover could be risky.

At Ripe, we arrange specialist valuables insurance that offers worldwide cover with no geographic restrictions, 365 days a year.

Find out more about specialist valuables insurance through Ripe or get an instant online quote today. For further information on what is or isn’t covered by a specialist valuables insurance policy through Ripe, please visit our Important Documents page.