You can save money on home insurance by refusing to accept the new premium offered by your current provider and shopping around to find a better deal.
That’s what I did and within about fifteen minutes I had saved £90 on my home insurance. Nice!
- How I saved money on my home insurance
- How to get cheaper home insurance
How I saved money on my home insurance
My last insurance provider sent me a letter telling me that they would be charging me £193 for the next year’s home insurance. They didn’t make it easy at all to cancel. There were phone numbers I could call to alter it or tell them of any changes to my circumstances, but no numbers for cancelling. Go figure!
However, I took a look at how much cheaper I could get this year’s insurance for on our home insurance comparison page and, surprise, surprise, I found one for £96. Once I added in an extra bit it came to £103.
So I called one of the numbers on the letter I had received from my last insurer, told them that I was going to leave ad listened to their horror at this extraordinary decision of mine! They offered to bring their rate down – to £138 (amazing how quickly that can be done) but they couldn’t match £103.
So, regretfully they had to cancel my account and I moved over to the new insurer, knowing I had saved a goodly amount in just 15 minutes in front of the computer.
It’s worth it, so go switch your home insurance now, while you’ve got fifteen minutes!
How to get cheaper home insurance
SHOP AROUND to save money on HOME INSURANCE
At renewal time, don’t assume that you’re getting the best deal from your current provider. Apathy is the main reason why people end up paying over the odds for their home cover. You can save money on home insurance by checking out the competition and using that to bring your premiums down.
Go onto a comparison site now and see what better offers you could get on your home insurance.
Looking at a range of different quotes online can help you see how much money you could save by switching providers.
On the other hand, it may confirm that you’re actually getting the best deal around for your home insurance needs.
But remember, always compare policies on a like-for-like basis and be aware that although cheap deals may look appealing – they may not always offer the best level of protection.
You should never under-insure your home.
SPEAK TO YOUR NEIGHBOURS
It’s perhaps not the most common over-the-fence chit chat (or it might be if you’re that way inclined!), but finding out from a neighbour how much they pay for their home cover, and how good that cover is, can be quite revealing. You may well find it’s less than you pay; another reason for searching around.
Some providers also do Refer a Friend schemes, offering discounts or incentives, so it could be worth your while finding out who they purchased their policy with.
INCREASE the home insurance EXCESS
By increasing the excess attached to the policy (there will normally be separate excesses for your buildings and contents home insurance) you can usually save money on your premium. Remember, you’d have to pay this amount in the event of a claim – so make sure you’d be comfortable finding this amount out of your own pocket.
BOOST SECURITY FEATURES
Making your home more secure can make you seem less of a risk to a home insurer. A working burglar alarm and smoke alarm can often reduce your premium. If you’re part of a neighbourhood watch scheme you might also get a reduction.
rsonal circumstances. If the information you provided them with at the time of application is out of date – you could risk invalidating your policy.
Equally, some changes may actually end up saving you some money. For example, if you get married, your provider may offer you a discount on your insurance. For more info on this, read our post: how getting married could save you money
CONSIDER THE COST OF A CLAIM
If you claim on your policy this may affect the price you pay for insurance in future. Most providers will assess your risk based on your claims history.With this in mind, it’s probably a good idea to weigh up the real cost of a claim. Taking your excess payment into account, it may not be cost effective to make claims for small amounts.
COMBINE YOUR COVER
It may be that you have your buildings cover with one insurer, and your contents cover with another.
If so, it’s probably costing you money.
Some people still make this mistake, but in nearly all cases it would be cheaper (and somewhat easier when it comes to renewal and making claims) to buy a combined buildings and contents deal with one provider. The savings are usually significant when compared to taking out two separate policies.
If you do have separate policies with separate insurers, approach both and see what terms they’ll offer you for a combined deal.
UPGRADE YOUR LOCKS
Updating the locks on your windows and doors for new and improved models could reduce the price of your premium. Check to see which locks are approved by your insurer. Always inform them if you make changes to any of the security features on your home.
DON’T PAY FOR UNNECESSARY COVER:
Make sure you’re not over-insuring your home and contents and paying for an unnecessary level of cover.
- Your buildings insurance should be based on the rebuild cost of your property. This is normally a smaller amount than your property’s market value.
- Getting the two confused could mean you end up paying for more insurance than you need.
- Similarly, over-estimating the collective value of all your contents could mean you pay for more insurance than you actually require.
- Going through each room of your house and drawing up a list of the items you want to be insured could be helpful.
