Tips to bring down the cost of home insurance

When you own your home or have contents in a rented property being uninsured can save you money in the short term but you are likely to find this is false economy.
The importance of having insuranceThe importance of having insurance
The importance of having insurance

When you are uninsured you will find you are extremely vulnerable when accidents occur and this is true when an accident originates in a neighbouring property as well.

It is a commonly held misconception that if your neighbour causes damage to your property they will be liable for your repair costs, unfortunately this is only the case if your neighbour is found to be negligent.

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I was surprised to hear after the recent floods that so many were uninsured with one lady saying she was a single parent and money was tight. She seemed to be inferring that, after the basics, there was nothing left to buy insurance. Although I do sympathise with her plight, I find it difficult to believe that if you can afford to build up possessions then surely you can afford to protect them against loss. Maybe she got a quote and decided the price offered to her was unacceptably high.

Kieron BassettKieron Bassett
Kieron Bassett

Although I advocate people buy comprehensive insurance cover some people’s funds do not stretch that far and the lady may want to tailor the plan to reflect her disposable income and there will be many people like her. Some suggestions to reduce the premium are to increase the excess on the policy and take away legal expenses cover. But if these changes do not reduce the premium sufficiently then consider taking off home emergency and accidental damage cover from the policy.

Hopefully in most areas this will bring the premium down to a figure less than the £312 per annum which is the average amount most mums spend on each child’s Christmas presents. It is possible to make further savings by buying policies which only replace the value of the item at the time of the claim so not giving the new for old value, but I would avoid losing new for old cover if possible,

The budget type policies I have mentioned are not ideal with lots of flaws which could leave you short if the wrong type of claim arose, but you still do have valuable cover.