esure home insurance’s ‘Obsolete Objects’ poll has revealed that Brits often hang on to items that they have upgraded because they do not want to throw them away, and these items now lie unused in a corner of the house, in sheds, under beds or at the backs of cupboards.

Two thirds of people hoard these useless, but nonetheless working, items because they still function and it seems a waste to throw them away; 65 per cent try to fob them off onto friends or family; 60 per cent are reluctant to throw them away in case the new improved version malfunctions, and 33 per cent refuse to get rid of something that originally cost them a considerable amount of money.

esure carried out the survey across the UK, and found that there are 21.7 million mobile phones, 15 million non-digital cameras, 12.9 million CRT TVs, 25.7 million video recorders and 1.8 million satellite navigation systems are wasting away in obscurity within Britain’s homes.

Nikki Sellers, Head of Home Insurance for esure said: “Millions of homes are tied to a constant upgrade cycle on account of new and better gadgets appearing almost daily. Unfortunately, we are also stockpiling the items they replace because we can’t bear to throw them away. There is the obvious impact on storage space but for insurance purposes, homeowners should remember to keep an inventory of everything they own whether they use it or not.

“esure urges anyone wanting to clear their clutter to consider the most environmentally friendly route of doing so – reuse, resell, give away or recycle cast offs rather than dumping them whenever possible.”

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