Home insurance is an “important consideration”

Home insurance may seem expensive for low-income households, however it should be an “important consideration,” according to insurance comparison website Confused.com.

Weekly payment schemes such as the one recently launched by Zurich Municipal can make home insurance more accessible to those on a low income, Debra Williams, managing director at the website commented.

Zurich Municipal launched a new scheme to help increase access to home contents insurance for social housing residents by helping them to insure based on what they need rather than what they can afford.

“We would hope the ability to spread the cost will encourage people to consider home contents insurance as a way of protecting their treasured possessions,” Ms Williams said.

The latest AA British Insurance Premium Index reveals that the widely-predicted price increases in home insurance following last year’s flooding are not being realised.

Andrew Strong of the AA said this could be explained by a rise in the number of risks not being quoted by some insurers, indicating a sensitivity to the risk of floods.

Tags: com, finance, Types of insurance, possessions, aa, Managing director, Weekly, ms williams

Homebuyers cutting corners

A large number of homebuyers in the UK are cutting corners financially as house prices rise and this could lead to big problems in the future.

Research by AA Legal Services highlights an alarming trend of buyers failing to ensure that their new home has been properly checked before signing up to buy it.

The average home in the UK currently costs around £185,000 and Brits owe a combined £340 billion in mortgage repayments.

It is this debt, says the AA, that is causing new homebuyers to run the risk of cutting corners.

“With home buyers stretching themselves to the financial limits to afford their home, many are cutting back on the relatively low costs of basic legal and social inspections,” said James Molloy from the firm.

“New home owners who do not carry out basic checks, face discovering too late that their dream home could actually be a financial time bomb.”

According to AA Legal Services, only 28 per cent of homeowners questioned had commissioned a structural survey on their property or looked at the flood risk.

In addition, only 14 per cent had tried to get an independent conveyancing service, while just 21 per cent looked for an insurance quote and 29 per cent considered council tax costs.

“I’m very worried that so few take steps to protect their investment and ensure that their interests are represented,” added Mr Molloy.

Tags: addition, big problems, Brits, GBP, aa, United Kingdom

Motor insurance set to rocket in the UK

Motorists in the UK are set to face huge increases in motor insurance over the next year according to recent reports relating to some of the larger motor insurance companies in the UK. It has been reported that the biggest motor insurer in the UK could be whacking up the cost of premiums in 2007, increasing the gap even further between the prices from some major insurers and some of the cheaper motor insurance companies.

Unfortunately, the large rise in premiums could mean that those companies currently seen as budget insurance companies, which are able to offer huge discounts, could also be forced to push up premiums, making it even more costly to own and drive a car in the UK. Norwich Union has already raised premiums by up to forty percent over the past few months, and other major players are set to follow.

The largest motor vehicle insurer, the Royal Bank of Scotland, is now set to follow suit and push up its insurance premium rates, and smaller companies could follow. One spokesperson from the Admiral Group stated: ‘We believe Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance is the decisive factor in taking the market up in price. If it were to sustain a series of increases over the next 12 to 18 months, that would take rates up substantially.’

According to statistics forthcoming rises could push up an average insurance premium of around seven hundred and fifty pounds to around nine hundred pounds. Officials from the Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance stated that the rises were largely due to the heft cost of claims that had been made over recent years. An AA spokesperson also spoke about the rises, stating: ‘You will find people will shop around even more now. The market is going to be even more polarised between the highest and lowest prices.’

Tags: accidents, aa, norwich union, costs, car