Don’t let home insurance become a casualty of belt tightening

At a time when it’s reported that domestic burglaries have risen by 4% and cases of burglary or robbery have risen in three quarters of English and Welsh police forces, Age Concern Insurance Services is urging homeowners not to cut back on essentials like home contents and buildings insurance.

With the recession in full swing and metaphorical belts tightening across the country, Age Concern Insurance Services is urging older people not to make their home contents and buildings insurance a casualty of their spending cuts.

A recent report suggests that more than half (54%) of those who are struggling to meet their household bills (42%) are cutting back on their outgoings, getting rid of non-essential drains on their finances. And anecdotally, it seems that some people mistakenly believe that home contents cover is non-essential.

Contents insurance covers everything contained in your home that you’d take with you if you moved out: electrical items, furniture, soft furnishings, kitchen equipment, clothes and so on. Being uninsured would mean that, should the worst happen in the event of a domestic accident or burglary, the homeowner can be exposed to crippling financial woes. Similarly, buildings insurance is just as important, particularly during winter months when the risks of very expensive weather-related damage to property can increase significantly. Damage caused by burst pipes, for example, could cost thousands of pounds to repair.

Joe Young, from Age Concern Insurance Services says: “Failing to insure yourself adequately is a very serious issue that can leave you seriously out-of-pocket should there be a burglary or accident in the home. For this reason, it is so important that customers not only choose a home contents and buildings policy that suits their needs with the appropriate level of cover, but also that they keep reviewing their policy so that any new purchases are included within the sum insured. After all, when you suffer a loss, you don’t want to find that you are saddled with a hefty bill to replace like-for-like items.”

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) advises that consumers should review their policy every year by calculating how much it would cost to replace all home contents. It is particularly important for older people who may be on limited incomes to review their cover regularly to ensure that it is sufficient to replace damaged or stolen goods.

Profits generated by Age Concern Insurance Services go directly to the Age Concern charity, raising additional funds for invaluable support services such as day centres, home visits and transportation as well as helping the charity campaign for the well-being and rights of older people.

Age Concern Insurance Services offers Home Insurance policies that are designed for customers over 50 years of age, it is also one of the few schemes to allow a very low minimum sum insured, allowing older people with fewer possessions to pay only for the cover they need. Age Concern Insurance Services also offers the flexibility to spread the cost of insurance by paying in instalments at no extra cost. For more information, visit ageconcern.org.uk/homeinsurance