Home insurance remains value for money

Leading financial services provider, The Co-operative Insurance, has unearthed a piece of its marketing history that demonstrates that home insurance has risen relatively little in price, over the last ten decades and remains value for money.

A bookmark, issued as part of a marketing campaign in August 1931, has been returned to The Co-operative Insurance, carrying the 1931 premium for cover against perils such as fire, burglary, house-breaking, storm, flood, boiler explosions, burst water tanks and pipes and even accidents to servants!

The cost of a comprehensive home insurance policy, that year, was "a very reasonable rate" of 5 shillings, per £100 worth of household goods, with a minimum premium of 5 shillings. In decimal currency, that works out to a cost of 25 pence, per £100 of cover.

In 2008, the average contents sum insured at The Co-operative Insurance is currently £36,000 and the average contents premium £75.00. This equates to a cost of only 20 pence per £100 of cover - which actually means premiums have reduced compared to those in 1931!

This despite the fact that home insurance policies now provide many much wider cover with extra benefits and has to protect homeowners against the loss of very high value goods, particularly electrical goods such as flat screen TVs, DVD players, games consoles, personal computers, digital cameras and video cameras. This has inflated the sum insured far beyond the days of the ‘Thirties' when the type of property covered would be mainly furniture, ornaments, jewellery, cutlery, tea sets, clocks and primitive radio sets.

Financial marketing slogans have also changed over the last 77 years. The Co-operative Insurance bookmark carries one that urged homeowners to take out contents insurance to protect themselves "From ghosties and goulies long-legetty beasties and things that go "bump" in the night". Current Co-operative slogans such as ‘good with money' cannot claim to be as poetic, although the fundamental message is the same that it pays to cover your belongings.

David Neave Director of General Insurance at The Co-operative Insurance said, "This clearly shows that even though the home insurance market has changed significantly with products developed to provide wider cover with greater benefits, The Co-operative Insurance still continues to provide value for money products that are backed with high levels of service at premiums people can afford."