|
2008: energy prices are on the rise, your home is worth less and the global credit crunch is continuing to put the squeeze on everyone – what’s next… alien invasion? Well at least you can rely on Confused.com to bring you some good news, this time in the form of yet more money saving tips. So read on for 16 ways you could save money on home insurance.
8 Ways to Find Cheaper Home Insurance
8 Ways to Reduce Existing Home Insurance Premiums
1) Shop Around for Home Insurance
Use an online insurance comparison site such as – to pick a name at random – Confused.com. Insurance firms apply different underwriting criteria when assessing home cover quotes, hence the variation in premiums. An insurance comparison site will quickly present you with quotes from a wide range of insurers, allowing you to choose your preferred deal.
Why do insurers return different quotes for the same property? One insurance company will not necessarily assess risk in the same way as another. For example, if a postcode has a history of past claims with one insurer, you’ll receive a high quote, but another insurer may have a good experience of that postcode, resulting in a cheaper quote.
2) Increase Your Voluntary Excess
When completing a home insurance application form, volunteering to pay a higher excess on any future claims should bag you a discount from your insurer. But be aware – a higher excess will mean a higher cost to you in the event of a claim, and if something goes wrong and the cost to put it right is less than your excess, you won’t be able to make a claim.
3) Don’t Over Insure #1 – Contents Insurance
Always give an accurate valuation of the contents to be insured within your property, but don’t guesstimate the amount as this could result in higher-than-necessary premiums.
One way to accurately gauge how much contents insurance you need is to simply walk from room to room in your property and make a list of items and their value. Next, total all the amounts and enter this figure into the ‘value of cover required’ field on the application form (don’t forget to pop outside and list garden ornaments, bicycles and items stored in the shed or garage if you want these included in your cover).
Alternatively, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has a home contents value calculator to help you work out the value of your possessions.
Note: Don’t make the mistake of under insuring. If you under insure, any future claims you make might not be met in full.
4) Don’t Over Insure #2 – Buildings Insurance
When buying buildings insurance, you only need to insure your property for its rebuild value, not its market value.
A recent Confused.com study found that more than 10 percent* of people searching for buildings insurance entered an amount in the box marked ‘property rebuild cost’ equal to the property’s market value. This means that tens of thousands of UK homeowners could be wasting money by forking out on a level of buildings insurance that they simply don’t require.
Your home’s rebuild cost
The rebuild cost can be found on your mortgage agreement or you can work it out by using the house insurance rebuilding calculator on the ABI's website. It’s a particularly good idea to find this out if your home was bought at the height of the housing boom as the difference is likely to be that much greater and you could make serious savings.
However, it’s extremely important not to undervalue your property’s rebuild cost. This could leave you severely out of pocket should the worst happen. If you live in a period or unusual property, ensure your cover is high enough for a complete rebuild in the original style, and don’t forget to factor in any extensions as an insurance company will only pay out on the part of your home that is covered. In short, be very careful when assessing the rebuild cost and seek qualified advice if you’re unsure.
*Actual figure 10.8 percent. Confused.com looked at all buildings insurance searches carried out via its online service for the six-month period running from July 2007 to December 2007.
5) Ignore Your Mortgage Provider
If you’re a new homeowner, your lender will no doubt have been pestering you to buy its own buildings insurance. However, unless it’s a condition of the mortgage, you’re not obliged to take it – so shop around to see if you can better their quote. Note: Your lender may charge you for going elsewhere, so make sure any savings outweigh their fee.
6) Get Combined Buildings and Contents Insurance
Taking out a combined home policy from the same insurer will usually get you a discount.
7) Get Separate Buildings and Contents Insurance
You can sometimes find cheaper home insurance by sourcing separate cover. The only way to know is to shop around and see (or see if Confused.com can help).
8) Pay for Home Insurance Up Front
Paying a year’s home insurance up front usually costs less than if you set up monthly installments. So to maximize savings, pay the whole lot in one go.
 9) Fire Proof Your Home for Cheaper Home Insurance
Fitting smoke alarms in your home and a fire extinguisher in the kitchen is not only a common sense safety tip but could also reduce your home insurance bill. Find more fire safety tips here.
10) Fit a Burglar Alarm for Cheaper Contents Insurance
Installing a burglar alarm should lower your contents insurance, and the better the alarm, the lower your premiums are likely to be. For your best chance of saving money, install an alarm that is NACOSS (National Approval Council for Security Systems) or SSAIB (Security Systems and Alarm Inspection Board) approved.
11) Fit Secure Locks to Entry Points and Keep Doors in Good Nick
Fortify your windows and doors, preferably five-lever mortise deadlocks (British Standard BS3621) to external doors and key-operated locks to accessible windows. External doors should be certified to PAS 24-1 standard and at least 44mm thick and windows should be certified to British Standard BS7950.
12) Safe as Houses
As many insurers charge extra to insure high-value items, installing a sturdy safe for valuables such as jewellery could reduce your premiums.
13) Nosey Neighbours
If your locale has a neighbourhood watch scheme then join in… and place a sticker in your window to advertise that you’re a member. Insurers ask this question and you could qualify for a discount if you can answer ‘yes’.
14) Minimise the Risk of Subsidence
Keep any trees that are very close to your house trimmed back to minimise the amount of water sucked up through the roots. The drier the house’s foundations, the higher the subsidence risk. Trimmed back trees will also make your house more visible to neighbours or passers-by, thus making it less easy for a burglar to sneak in.
15) Insulate Water Pipes
Every winter, thousands of homes suffer flood damage due to water pipes that freeze and then burst. Adequately insulating your pipes could spare you the headache of flood damage, the cost of a plumber, and a higher insurance bill.
And for our final tip…
16) Make Fewer Claims
As with all insurance, make a claim and your next insurance quote will be more expensive. So, if at all possible, try and avoid becoming a serial insurance claimant. For example, if the damage is only minor, perhaps take it on the chin and pay to put it right out of your own pocket – after all, this could work out cheaper than the hike in your next insurance quote.
Follow this link to compare financial products - and many other great deals!
|
