Money saving tips for home insurance
If you want great cover at a great price, shopping around for home insurance quotes is always a good idea – whether you’re looking for buildings insurance, contents insurance, or both. Here are our top tips to help you pay less for your home insurance next time you’re due to renew.
Only get what you need
If you’re a tenant, don’t make the mistake of getting both buildings insurance and contents insurance. You don’t own the property you rent, so buildings insurance is your landlord’s responsibility. However, you should think about getting contents insurance, as this will protect your personal possessions if you suffer a flood, fire or burglary.
Combined insurance can be cheaper
If you need buildings insurance and contents insurance, getting a combined policy can save you money, although most insurers will still charge you a separate excess for your buildings cover and contents cover. This means if you claimed on both, for example if there was a fire, you’d have to pay two excesses.
Get your sums right
When you apply for buildings insurance, you’ll be asked what the rebuild value of your property is. Simply put, this is the amount it would cost to rebuild your home if it was levelled to the ground. It isn’t how much you’d sell your property for today, as that figure includes the value of the plot of land it sits on, too.
Be honest
Whether you’re applying for buildings or contents cover, it’s crucial that you don’t bend the truth. If you do, you could invalidate your insurance or end up not receiving the full value of your damaged or stolen possessions, in the event of a claim. Undervaluing what your contents are worth in order to pay less for your premium might feel like a quick win now, but, if you claimed in the future, you wouldn’t get the full value of your items from your insurer and you could even invalidate your cover.
Agree to a voluntary excess
All insurers set a compulsory excess and this is non-negotiable. If you were to make a claim, you’d have to pay this amount. If, for instance £500 worth of electrical items were destroyed in a flood, and your compulsory excess is £75, you’d pay that and your insurer would pay £425.
You can choose to pay a voluntary excess on top of this. You’ll be likely to pay a lower premium if you choose to pay a higher voluntary excess[1], but you should never opt for an amount you’d struggle to pay if you did need to make a claim.
Boost your home’s security
Do you know what locks you have on your doors and windows? If you don’t, make sure you find out before you apply for a quote, as getting it wrong on your application form could invalidate your policy. Having the recommended five-lever mortice deadlock conforming to BS 3621 could mean you pay less for your premium, depending on your insurer.