24.9m Britons at risk
Britons under-insure their home contents by more than £255 billion , leaving millions struggling to replace their belongings in the event of disaster – and at risk of invalidating their policy, a survey by AXA reports.
The average home’s contents are insured for just under £29,000, more than £9,000 less than the average value placed by consumers on their home contents at just under £38,000, leaving Britain’s 24.9million homeowners and tenants struggling to replace their belongings should the worst happen.
At a time when people are cutting costs where they can, it may seem wise to many people to go for the cheapest premium.
Not only could under-insuring mean you find yourself without enough funds to replace your belongings, it could even invalidate the policy.
Mike Keating, AXA’s managing director of personal lines intermediary said: “It may seem a good idea to many - particularly in today’s climate – to pick the cheapest option when it comes to home insurance and save a few pounds, but £20,000 or even £30,000 worth of insurance is unlikely to cover all the contents in the average consumer’s home. When taking out home contents insurance, it’s absolutely vital to ensure that customers have a clear idea of the cost of their possessions as under-insuring could lead to a policy being invalid.”
The findings revealed that while consumers insured their home contents for just under £29,000, they do not take everything into consideration when calculating that figure.
When asked to place a value on a detailed list of home contents that included items such as home accessories and garden furniture, the figure rose to almost £38,000.
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
