Latest figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), published on the 1st of February 2019, show that building insurance premiums fell by 8% in 2018 compared to the previous year, to reach their lowest since 2015.
Home contents insurance premiums are at an all-time low too, says the ABI, yet a quarter of all households do not have the cover.
Against this background, it may be all the more surprising to find that there are ways to cut the costs of your home insurance still further – and here’s how:
Shop around
- When choosing any type of insurance, it’s always a great idea to check out company websites, like onesureinsurance.co.uk. This way, you get a better understanding of the policies that the company offers and you can compare their prices with other insurance companies to make sure you’re getting fairly priced cover.
- It seems almost too obvious to say it, yet there are some who do little research about the most suitable and competitively-priced policies – and even more householders who blithely renew their current home insurance without further review year in and year out;
- Shopping around is not even something that needs take up any of your time – instead, ask a specialist home insurance provider to do the searching on your behalf, to ensure the appropriate match between your particular needs and circumstances and the many competing policies on the market;
Combine building and contents insurance
- while it is possible to buy your building and contents insurance policies separately, you are almost certain to find that a combined policy works out cheaper;
- furthermore, with a combined policy you have just a single renewal date, so are less likely to overlook the need to review, renew or rearrange the one or the other at different times of the year;
Over insurance v. underinsurance
- avoid the twin errors of over or underinsurance;
- homeowners may tend to overestimate the reconstruction value of their homes, or over insure the total building sum “to be on the safe side” – but you then end up paying more than you need in insurance premiums;
- with contents insurance, on the other hand, many householders underestimate the value of their contents – perhaps because they have merely overlooked certain items or whole rooms of the house – and underinsure;
- if you are underinsured, you run the risk of any settlement on a subsequent being insufficient to repair or replace damaged, lost or stolen items;
Check standard inclusions
- home insurance policies vary widely in terms of what is covered as standard and what you may need to pay more for as an additional or optional extra;
- clearly, the more any policy includes as standard, the less you are going to have to pay for costlier add-ons;
- by the same token, however, you may want to avoid any areas of cover which are included but which you do not require – legal expenses cover, for example, or home emergency cover;
Consider the excess
- by agreeing to a higher excess, you may reduce the costs of your home insurance premiums;
- the flip side of that coin, however, is that you need to contribute more in the event of a successful claim;
- it is important to strike an appropriate balance between cheaper premiums and the additional excess you may have to pay in the event of a claim.
Even with the cost of home insurance so relatively low, therefore, it is still possible to reduce the cost of your premiums even further by following some of these tips and suggestions.
