Householders urged to mitigate insurance risk

Householders are being hit with catastrophic losses from easily preventable events, warns specialist insurance broker Stackhouse Poland in a drive to educate on prevention rather than cure.

“Recent years have seen some major natural disasters in this country, including devastating floods and freak tornados, but it’s the little everyday things that cause the vast majority of accidents,” says Stackhouse Poland’s Keith Hester.

“A common reason behind house fires can be as surprising as leaving a mobile phone charging overnight - something that millions of people do on a regular basis – which can lead to curtains to catching fire and consequent widespread damage.

“Everyday seemingly harmless actions such as this can result in huge financial loss - not to mention physical risk - and drive up renewal premiums.

Far from just being a procedure for large corporations, risk management is something that everyone can benefit from to protect themselves from accident and loss and in turn save money from keeping renewal premiums low.

Whilst it can be difficult to protect your property against floods or tornadoes caused by extreme weather conditions, a simple walk around the house could reveal any number of potential hazards that can be easily made safe by simple work and regular maintenance.

Some are easy to spot, others are not so obvious. For instance, the fire risk posed by an overloaded power board should be evident but the risk of a mirror placed in the wrong place may well be missed.

“It might sound far-fetched but on more than one occasion we have had claims from clients whose properties were seriously damaged by fires resulting from the sun reflecting off a convex shaving mirror onto curtains,” says Hester.

“This isn’t the kind of risk that many people would spot so we are keen to raise awareness of the need to anticipate the unexpected.”

For those with valuable furniture, collections or interior decoration, an insurance claim can’t replace carefully chosen cherished items, so ensuring that risk is kept to an absolute minimum should be their primary concern.

Christmas, along with Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night, is one of the high risk times of the year and always brings a huge surge in the number of household insurance claims so now is an ideal time to review home safety and security.

“Making your home as inaccessible as possible to intruders goes a long way to keeping them out,” says Hester. “Cutting back hedges that provide cover for burglars, chaining up ladders to they can’t be used – these are the kind of checks that must be made on a regular basis.

“Removing valuable items from view when the house is left empty for a period of time or leaving the glove box of your car open to show there’s no satnav inside all reduce the likelihood of you being the thief’s choice.”

As far as protecting your property against the elements, ensuring gutters are free from fallen leaves in autumn, having the chimney swept or drains checked can prevent much aggravation, cost and disruption.

Stackhouse Poland specialises in providing tailor-made insurance policies for the high net worth sector, plus the full spectrum of protection for individuals, corporations and charities.

For more information, visit stackhouse.co.uk