Home Insurance News Articles

A steep rise in renting rather than buying should serve as a reminder of the importance of getting the correct home insurance for all concerned, experts have warned.

The Residential Landlords Association says there are several reasons for the increase in the number of renters, including:

• the difficulty of obtaining a mortgage as banks become choosier about new customers;
• a rise in the deposit required on mortgaged properties, with a 20% downpayment now common;
• more people struggling to save up to buy a home because of the effects of the economic downturn; and
• a drop in the number of new houses being built meaning people who have to move home may struggle to find a suitable purchase to buy in the new Full Story

A survey from Legal & General has revealed that many UK homes could be at risk due to poor maintenance of security and safety devices designed to protect us.

The annual 'Safe as Houses' report, showed that although we’re good at having home security features in place, we’re not good at checking that they're still working and could even be putting off repairs to broken or faulty home security equipment.

The survey asked people to provide details of the security and safety devices they have in their homes, and has shown an increase in the number of people with home security features fitted. Figures show that nearly 90% of us Full Story

New research released by Sainsbury’s Finance has revealed that UK home insurers continue to lag behind car insurers for rewarding customers with a no-claims discount.

The findings which were commissioned by Sainsburys Home Insurance, reveal that just one in four (26%) of home insurance policies offer a no-claims discount, preventing customers from benefiting from potentially huge savings. What's more, of those home insurers that do offer it, 8% penalise customers for making a claim by removing more than one year of no-claims discount, even if they have built up several years no-claims discounts.

Sainsbury’s Finance, whose home insurance offers up Full Story

It's a year since unprecidented floods hit parts of Gloucestershire and the Midlands bringing devastation to thousands of homes.

In an effort to ensure continued availablity of flood insurance to homes in these and other areas, the Government and the ABI (Association of British Insurers) have reached an agreement on future flood prevention strategies.

Included in a package of measures the Government has commitment to deliver a long-term flooding strategy and stricter controls on new developments in and around flood risk areas. The new agreement comes as ABI research surveying the victims of last year's flood victims revealed:

• 80% believe the flood risk is getting worse.
• 75% think not enough is being done to Full Story

A year on from the devastating floods that hit many parts of the UK in 2007, research from Moneysupermarket.com has shown that it is still possible for homeowners in affected areas to secure home insurance cover despite being classed as a high risk.

Moneysupermarket analysed premiums for the twelve months to June 2008 for Tewkesbury which is now classified as a high risk flood area. From this two different  stories emerge. The first shows that despite the increased risk for flooding in this area, homeowners who haven’t made a flood claim are still able to get competitive insurance from a wide range of insurers.

Unfortunately, it's not so easy if a flood claim has been made as only three insurers; Full Story

On the back of recent claims figures for garden thefts, Sainsburys Home Insurance is urging us to pay more attention to our garden security and to be on the look-out for green-fingered thieves this summer. The claims figures confirm an average garden theft home insurance for the year to January 2008 of just over £291.

Research from Sainsbury’s indicates that around 34% of items stolen are worth under £50, 23% are worth £50-£100, 26% are worth £101-£400 and 11% of valued at £401-£1,000.  It's estimated that around 3% of stolen garden items are worth more than Full Story

Findings from a recent survey carried out by Legal and General home insurance confirmed that Brits are not very good at valuing the contents of their home.

The survey questioned over 4,000 people and revealed that 15% have no idea how much it would cost to replace the contents of their home. Although the average home contents value calculated by L&G is estimated to be over £40,000, the survey showed that 59% estimate that the cost of replacing their entire home contents would be less than £40,000. What's more, over a quarter, 27% valued their contents at less than £20,000, so potentially underinsuring their contents Full Story

Do you have a spare 400 hours and £8000? That’s the estimate from CIFAS and Which? for what it could cost you to clear up difficulties arising from identity fraud or theft.

Between January and September of 2007, there were 57,302 incidents of identity fraud reported to CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service. The Home Office estimates that identity fraud costs the UK economy about £1.7 billion a year.

Now, one of the UK’s leading insurers is doing something about it. Direct Line recently announced that it is providing free Identity Fraud Assistance for both new and Full Story