Edinburgh, Scotland (ContentDesk) June 28, 2006 -- Brits will spend £4.65 billion this year on sports and fitness with the average person spending £206 a year according to data from Barclays Insurance. Many of us spend most of our sporting life sat on the couch watching sport on the TV, but at this time of the year we dip in our pockets to buy new equipment, join clubs and then expect to see a brilliant return for our investment. However, broken equipment and pulled muscles are more often the outcome. Sports participation traditionally surges in the summer as participants are inspired by televised major sporting events such as the football World Cup, Wimbledon and the Open Golf championship. However, the most popular participation sports throughout the year are swimming, keeping fit, cycling and pool and snooker.Mark Till, Marketing Director for Barclays Insurance, warns that the spending could go to waste if normally sedentary Brits get active too suddenly: "Many of us spend most of our sporting life sat on the couch watching sport on the TV, but at this time of the year we dip in our pockets to buy new equipment, join clubs and then expect to see a brilliant return for our investment.

However, broken equipment and pulled muscles are more often the outcome.""With this in mind we have offered a special sports insurance package to supplement our household insurance. This provides extended cover for sports equipment including theft and accidental damage during use and even covers customers against the costs of an unusable club membership should they suffer an injury that prevents them from taking part in club activities. It might not stop a tennis racket getting broken in a McEnroe moment or a Rooneyesque broken metatarsal, but it will cover you for the outcome."Ironically, with the Wimbledon tennis championships due to start next week (June 26, 2006), the women of Wimbledon are the second highest spenders for female account holders with 7.3 per cent of their credit and debit card spending going on sport and fitness. Only those in Blackley in Manchester spend more. However, top honours go to the men of Bolton who spend 11.1 per cent of their total card expenditure on sport.Barclays became a price fighter in the general insurance market in April 2005 with the introduction of price cuts and improved cover across home, motor and travel insurance.

In September 2005 Barclays launched a price challenge on motor and household insurance. It promises to beat the cost of their renewal (as long as they have two years no claims) and if they cant they will match it and also give the customer £50 when they take out the Barclays insurance. The price challenge was backed by TV advertising during February and March 2006.Barclays is an international financial services group engaged primarily in banking, investment banking and asset management. In terms of market capitalisation employed, Barclays is the third largest financial services group in the UK. The Group also operates in many other countries and is a leading provider of global services to multinational corporations and financial institutions in the worlds main financial centres.Resources: Barclays Insurance newsroom http://www.newsroom.barclays.co.uk/imagelibrary/detail.asp?MediaDetailsID=4733 [Barclays Insurance regional sports spend tablesContact Barclays: Barclays Barclays Insurance Elizabeth Holloway0207 116 6229.