Home insurance provides essential cover for your home and its contents yet a large number of UK homes remain uninsured. Do you have insurance in place? Why do you need it and how can you find the best cover for you?
According to a new YouGov survey, 49% of those questioned say home insurance is necessary, 18% comforting, 31% reassuring and 41% say that it gives them peace of mind. On the other side of the coin just under a third (30%) regard it as expensive. Just under two thirds of respondents (61%) had not made a claim before.
Just under half of respondents spend up to an hour researching prospective home insurance policies. For 17% this increases to 1- 2 hours and 7% spend up to a week doing so. However, doing thorough research to find the best policy for you is time well spent. Around three quarters (72%) say they do understand the cover they have purchased with just 10% saying that they do not.
How can you find the best cover for you?
The YouGov survey reveals that 60% of people use price comparison websites to source home insurance. 16% act on recommendations from others and just 12% use customer reviews to inform their decisions.
There are lots of factors to be taken in to consideration when choosing an insurance provider. For 69% of respondents in the survey, the cost of insurance was the most important as opposed to just over a third (38%) preferring reputation of the insurer. 71% say quality of cover tops the list.
It’s advisable to use a variety of comparison sites as no single one covers the whole market for the best results in each product category. In addition, not all providers advertise via a comparison site so you may need to contact them directly.
It’s worth double-checking your preferences when sourcing insurance quotes as excesses or monthly versus annual payments will affect the total cost of the cover. Watch out also for unwanted extras and any tick boxes, which may inadvertently be selected.
It’s also always worth reading reviews as well as the insurance quotes themselves. Cheaper is not always better as some providers may not offer the level and standard of cover or customer service that you would expect.
The best deals are also not always at the top of the search results. You may need to scroll through the list to find the best deals depending on how results are ranked.
In the year of the squeeze we’re looking of a whole host of ways to save money, one being to re- evaluate insurance costs and cover, for products such as life insurance. However failing to organise appropriate insurance or deciding to cancel insurance could be a very costly decision. Is it a risk you’re prepared to take?
NB: All queries in this post are broken down by age, location and other demographics based on a YouGov survey of 2000 participants commissioned by HSBC Life.
