Insurer’s high-tech homes headache

INSURANCE claims among the wealthy are rising as high-tech gadgets packed into homes push up the cost of repairing fire and flood damage.

The fad for so-called smart homes – with a fortune spent on installing computer systems for powerful entertainment equipment, remote controlled central heating and mood lighting – means there is now more to go wrong and that costs are greater when it does.

Insurer Hiscox, which sells policies to the wealthy, said a jump in claims for water damage last year is being linked to luxury high-pressure bathroom systems that can leak vast amounts in minutes.

It also warned that fire risks are rising as the banks of powerful computer servers that control smart homes can get very hot.

It came as Hiscox unveiled profits of £30.8m in 2017, down 91pc from £354.5m in 2016, which it blamed on natural disasters around the world hitting its business insurance arm.