The Welsh have amassed an estimated £1billion* worth of sports equipment in their homes, much of which is seldom used, according to new research from home insurer LV=.People in Wales have an average £1,224 worth of kit in their homes, £92 more than the UK national average (£1,132). You would be forgiven for thinking that there is some hope in combating the government projection that nearly 13 million adults in the UK will be obese by 2010**. However, scratch beneath the surface and much of the nations’ sporting equipment is mostly used for collecting dust.

The research by LV= found that in the average Welsh home, golf clubs, racquets and bikes worth over £434 have not been used in the last six months.

Despite having a plethora of sports accessories in our homes, we are always looking to accumulate more. Like the majority of people in the UK, Welsh adults seem to have the best intentions and epitomize the phrase ‘all the gear but no idea’. One in five (19%) buy brand new kit when they take up a new sport, with a further 12% buying second hand gear - before deciding if they are going to keep the activity up.

Kitted out in Wales

53% of homes in Wales contain at least one bike, yet nearly four in ten (38%) owners admit they haven’t sat in the saddle in the last six months. The pattern is repeated for owners of golf clubs; one in five households (19%) has at least one set of clubs and half (48%) of them haven’t swung them in the last six months.

It appears the level of energy required to use the equipment is not much of an indicator to the frequency of its use – 55% of anglers in Wales won’t have caught a thing in the past six months as they haven’t even used their rods.

The research from LV= also reveals that up to 644,800 homes in Wales have some form of home gym equipment including expensive multi gyms, exercise bikes, trampolines and treadmills, mostly only used occasionally.

Despite the high cost of sporting equipment, over 1.9 million people across the UK admitted to leaving their items open to theft, storing them unsecured in the garden, on display in the car, or in an unlocked shed.

Emma Holyer, Spokesperson for LV= home insurance said:“It’s easy to forget how much it would cost to replace the sporting equipment you have, unless you consider each item carefully and add up the total cost.

“We tend to think that the most costly things to replace are jewellery or electronics, but sporting equipment can cost thousands of pounds. People must ensure that if their bike is worthy of Lance Armstrong, or their golf clubs are up to Tiger Woods’ standard, they inform their insurer so that it is included on their home insurance.

“Homeowners should also ensure they have personal possessions cover. This not only covers items like mobile phones, money, laptops and bags, but also sports equipment when it is away from the home. As electronics become increasingly difficult to sell on, thieves are now targeting sporting equipment as it’s easy to sell on the black market.

“Some insurers don’t even cover equipment kept in sheds or garages, so home owners should check their insurance cover to see what is and isn’t covered.”

* based on 1.24 million households in Wales. 68% of homes in Wales and the West Country have sports equipment. 68% of 1.24million = 843200 homes. Average worth of sports equipment for in Wales = £1224.

£1224 x 843200 = £1,032,076,800

**Dept of Health forecast 2006

All figures unless stated are from Opinium Research.Opinium Research carried out a nationally representative poll of 2121 British adults between 15th and 19th of February 2008.

Household figures based on Government statistics that there are 24.7 million household in the UK.