Your Home is Your Castle - Insure It!

Many UK consumers have adopted a casual and often 'it won't happen to me' approach to dealing with their home insurance policy, new research suggests. What shocked me recently in the news coverage of the terrible floods was the number of people stood knee deep in water inside their homes complaining 'we don't have any insurance.' Your home is your biggest and most valuable assett and you must protect it with adequate insurance!

A study carried out by Tesco Home Insurance indicates that over a third of homeowners who do have insurance do not familiarise themselves with the level of cover and terms of their policy. Over two-fifths of consumers also say that their contents insurance may not be sufficient cover. Allan Burns, head of Tesco Home Insurance, said: "We would urge all homeowners to read through their documents to familiarise themselves with the terms and conditions of the policy they have purchased."Tesco Home Insurance recommends that property owners shop around for the most competitive insurance deals, read their policy documents carefully and to keep insurers updated with any home changes which might impact upon a policy.Mr Burns said: "We want everyone to make an informed choice when buying their home insurance policy."

Even after the recent floods there are no real signs that the cost of home insurance is going to increase more than 5%. As with motor insurance, there are 'screen scrapers' and comparison websites to seek out the best premiums for you. Unlike motor insurance, however, there are real differences in the actual cover from a home insurance policy and it's critical you take the time to check you're insured for everything you need. This is where a good broker can come in - they can answer these questions for you. As an example, be careful of insurance terms like 'Valuables' - which usually refers to things like jewellery and paintings. Do you have cameras and items which you need to insure for use outside of the home? Is there a limit on 'Contents' - basically all of your wordly goods? Many insurers are now moving to 'unlimited' cover with their home insurance policies which means whatever the size of the claim you should have adequate cover.

At the very least, insure your Home and Contents for 'the basics' - the cost is so cheap you'll be a fool not to do this quite frankly! If you do have lots of valuables, antiques, art effects etc you may need a specialist policy -I'll write more about these later and where you can get the best cover and service.