Zurich addresses financial exclusion

Zurich Municipal has launched a new scheme to help widen access to home contents insurance for social housing residents.

Available to local authorities and housing associations nationwide, the scheme aims to help housing providers tackle the issue of financial exclusion in their communities.

Zurich has consulted with a variety of stakeholders including MPs, local authorities and housing associations to shape a product that addresses barriers to take-up of cover and supports the Government’s plans for social inclusion, as outlined in its recent report, ‘Financial inclusion: an action plan for 2008-11’.

Recognising a general lack of clarity among tenants concerning the value of their contents (and that the landlord only insures the building) and that financing monthly or annual insurance premiums is beyond the majority’s means – many of whom do not have bank accounts, the insurer has developed a solution to make it as easy as possible for people to purchase appropriate protection.

The scheme is unique in that premium will be calculated on the number of bedrooms a property has. This removes the need for tenants to calculate an overall value for their home contents, which, if underestimated, could leave them vulnerable to being underinsured. A weekly cash payment option has also been incorporated to help tenants insure based on what they actually need rather than what they can afford. Policies can also be purchased and administered over the phone.

The scheme will be administered by Zurich, meaning that responsibility will not fall upon the housing association or local authority and policies will not be impacted or disrupted by any transfer of local authority housing stock to housing association control.

Tom Shewry, Head of Housing at Zurich Municipal said: ‘Financial concerns and the fact that insurance products are often seen as complicated and difficult to understand are reflected in poor adoption of these schemes. Last summers’ floods emphasized the value of cover.

We have worked hard to increase access for those least able to replace their possessions should the worst happen and we look forward to working closely with our customers to improve take up.’