According to Tesco Finance the cost of not changing home insurance companies last year totalled GBP26 million.
The study found that almost two thirds of people remained with their existing insurance providers when it came to renewal time, even though almost half of them saw the cost increase over the previous year. For around 4 million of them the increase was more than the level of inflation, said a Tesco Finance spokesman, even though only a small number of these had increased their cover or made a claim.
The advice that comes out loud and clear from Tesco is that everyone should at least get a couple of alternative quotes at renewal time to make sure they are getting the best home insurance deal available.
Over 22 percent of families with children under five have had toys taken from outside their homes according to a Halifax home insurance survey.
The most common item to be taken was a childs bicycle, making up almost 1 in 5 of all home insurance claims from those surveyed. Prams and buggies were also a popular target for thieves, no doubt driven by the costs of such items being quite high. The advice from the Halifax insurance people is to put items away safely when not in use, using a garden shed or bringing them into the house.
A Halifax spokesman understood the potential difficulties of being able to put everything away at some times, especially during the Summer when children are in and out of the house all day, but it is worth doing to avoid the psychological stresses it can cause, even if they have contents insurance in place to cover the financial cost.
Halifax home insurance customers will be happy today as they find out that they will receive GBP50 as a thank you for their loyalty to the company.
Each year that customers stay with the Halifax and have a claim free year they will receive GBP50, the award to be ongoing. The decision was made to introduce the payment after feedback from customers showed that they would like to their loyalty recognised. In addition to the payment customers will also be pleased to see that they can save up to GBP125 just by switching their buildings and contents insurance to the Halifax.
The head of marketing felt that this loyalty payment was perceived much more positively than the usual incentives and promotions offered by some other insurers.