Halifax Peace of Mind Campaign

Peace of Mind?

Home may be where the heart is, but isn’t always a place where we all feel safe and secure. With nearly half (43%) of Brits admitting they sometimes don't feel safe at home, the top worries include noisy streets (29%), unexpected visitors to the door (27%) and being alone at night (18%) according to a report released today (5th February 2009).

The findings are taken from the first Halifax Peace of Mind Index, launched today by Halifax Home Insurance, which delves into the minds of Brits and gets to the core of what makes people feel safe in their homes. Is it having a dog, living in the city, living with others, having the security of a burglar alarm, or peace of mind that they have adequate insurance should the unthinkable happen?

The Index provides a unique research-based ranking for how secure and safe different sectors of the UK population feel at home. Analysis of independent research commissioned by Halifax Home Insurance and British Crime Survey data has led to seven separate ‘Peace of Mind’ indicators made up of attitudinal and behavioural measures. They have been combined and re-based into a single index in which the UK mean average is 100. The highest scoring person indexed 165, the lowest 21.

Key findings from the Halifax Peace of Mind Index include:

• In general, women have a lower Peace of Mind than men
• There is higher Peace of Mind in more rural, less populated regions
• Surprisingly, women living alone have a higher Peace of Mind score than those living with parents, in shared accommodation or as a single parent
• There is greater Peace of Mind amongst homeowners than those renting or in housing association accommodation
• Brits’ top property fears are burglary, theft of belongings outside of the home and suffering a fire
• Those in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have a higher Peace of Mind score than anywhere in England
• All men and women under 35 scored below the national Peace of Mind average, suggesting younger people feel less safe
• The bigger the city and denser the population, the more perceived elements of crime and danger there are.

The Index also highlights the aspects that help make Brits feel safe in their homes. The majority of respondents (74%) feel reassured knowing all doors and windows have security locks on, over two thirds (67%) feel safer having a partner or family member in the home and over half (51%) feel secure knowing there is a landline telephone in the property.

Martyn Foulds, Senior Claims Manager at Halifax Home Insurance comments: “Society has changed significantly in the past few decades. The aim of the Halifax Peace of Mind Campaign as a whole, and the Peace of Mind Index as the crux of this, is to get to the core of what makes British people feel safe in the home.

“Although it reveals that the majority of Brits still feel safe in the home, some of the findings are surprising. For example, women living alone have a higher Peace of Mind score than those living with parents, in shared accommodation or as a single parent. Ultimately we hope that this report will act as a source of useful information and advice to help those who may face uncertainty or adverse circumstances at home in the future.”

The Peace of Mind Index will be followed by three further quarterly reports in 2009, which together form the Halifax Peace of Mind Report. To see the full Peace of Mind Index, please click here.

Halifax Peace of Mind Index by region:

Editors' Notes:

The research programme integrated new survey research among more than 2,000 UK adults and data from the British Crime Survey. The Peace of Mind index was constructed by statisticians at 3000ft Strategic Insight, using a combination of the aforementioned sources.  Original survey research was carried out by PureProfile in October 2008, with an online sample of 2009 UK adults aged 16 and over. Nationally representative quotas were set by age, gender and region.

Calculating the Index

The Peace of Mind Index has been devised exclusively for this report, and offers a single, clear indication of how different sectors of the UK population feel in terms of ‘feeling safe’ - from region, location-type and household-type to all age groups and both men and women.  It is calculated using seven separate ‘Peace of Mind’ indicators, made up of attitudinal and behavioural measures, drawn from the latest British Crime Survey data and original Halifax Home Insurance survey data. 

All seven measures have been combined and re-based into a single index, in which the UK mean average is 100. The highest scoring individual indexed 165, the lowest 21.