How to get cheaper home insurance

By following some simple guidelines, it’s possible to save hundreds of pounds on your annual policy.

1. Shop around on the internet

   Many insurers specialise in insuring different types of risk. By shopping around you can significantly improve your chances of finding the right product at a good price. Use the Insurancewide HomeWizard to find the most suitable insurer whether you’re looking for buildings or contents insurance. Price is not the only factor to consider, relevance and previous success rates with your type of risk are important too.

2. Pay your home insurance yearly

   Consider paying your buildings and contents insurance premium annually rather than monthly. Some insurers charge a high APR on monthly instalments.

3. Update your sum insured

   If you fail to inform your insurer of any new purchases or home improvements they may refuse to pay out in the event of a claim, leaving you to foot the bill.

4. Increase your home security

   Make sure you have the right security locks fitted, such as a mortice deadlock or rimlock conforming to British Standard 3621. You should also install a NACOSS approved burglar alarm and join a neighbourhood watch scheme. Increased security measures can lead to a 5-10% discount on your buildings and contents policies. Remember to inform your insurer if you are intending on leaving your home un-occupied for over 30 days.

5. Avoid living in an area at risk of flooding or subsidence

   If you live in a known flooding or subsidence area you will have limited building insurance options. The best advice from the industry is stay with your current insurer and don’t be lured by cheaper prices or schemes from other insurers. Building insurance problems are not usually experienced by an existing owner; the hitch comes when a house is sold and the new owner tries to secure insurance. Ask the current owner about any problems they encountered when insuring the property and ask for the name of the insurance company they used.

6. Watch out for policy exclusions

   A cheaper contents insurance policy may be unsuitable because of exclusions. Read the small print, know your contents value and be aware of individual item limits included in the standard policy (see below). If you require additional cover this can usually be added at an extra cost.

7. Check the single item limit on contents insurance

   It is usually worth insuring items that are expensive, valuable or easy to lose or damage separately and some insurers actually require you to do this. That way if you make a claim, your no-claims status on your overall contents insurance is not affected. Most insurers set a limit on the value of single items they will insure separately. Typically this is £1,500 but it can be as low as £600. The limits vary enormously so if you have high value items, shop around.