Are your Christmas gifts covered?
With just under three weeks until Christmas, moneysupermarket.com urges Brits to check the small print of their home insurance now to ensure Christmas gifts are covered.
Research from the UK's leading price comparison site reveals most insurers will automatically increase the amount your home contents policy covers over the festive season, usually by at least 10 per cent and at no extra cost. However variations between insurers are rife as ‘top up' periods can vary; for a £30,000 home contents policy for example, insure.co.uk automatically increases contents cover by 10 per cent for November and December, while The AA increases cover by 20 per cent from 1st December to 6th January.
Julie Owens, head of home insurance at moneysupermarket.com said: "While Brits may be feeling the financial pinch, there is nothing like Christmas spirit to bring out the generous streak in people. With festive cheer rife it's no surprise insurance could be the last thing on people's minds, but with gifts and gadgets aplenty Christmas is a prime time for opportunistic thieves to strike."
High value single items such as jewellery may need to be listed individually on a policy as insurers often impose limits of £1,000 or £2,000 for expensive items. Popular accessories such as iPods may also need itemising on a policy for being covered as possessions away from the home.
Julie Owens continued: "With so many variations between insurers on seasonal uplift, checking the small print with a fine-toothed comb is always a must - especially to safe guard from being underinsured. For example, if you have £45,000 worth of contents in your home but are only insured for £30,000, your insurer might only pay two thirds of a claim, even if it is for less than £30,000.
"It's not worth risking a bout of the New Year blues having to spend hard earned cash topping up an insurance pay out. If you feel you may be underinsured it only takes one phone call to increase your cover - possibly saving a great deal of time and money in the long run."