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.
According to a recent survey conducted by Santander over 40% of homeowners who took out a home insurance policy did not read their insurance agreement before taking out a policy.Homeowners that do not read the full terms and conditions of the contract run the risk of being under insured, as they are not fully aware of what their insurance cover actually covers.Research has shown that some policyholders who thought that they were covered for a particular level of coverage like accidental damage, were in fact not covered at all, and face the expensive task of replacing the items at their own expense. This of course could have been avoided had they read the level of cover included on their insurance policy. All homeowners want the best level of cover at the cheapest price for buildings insurance and contents insurance, but they must check to see that the cover meets their insurance needs before taking out a policy. Not all policies are the same and that is why it is so important to read the terms and conditions very carefully making sure that it does in fact meet the right level of cover to protect their home and their possessions.See our home insurance comparison table for more information or our guides and tips pages.
Sainsburys Bank home insurance division has found that just short of 10 million people are thinking of planting trees in their gardens this year and would like to warn them about the threat of subsidence.
The main advice given by Sainsburys Bank is to select a tree that will be of a suitable size for the garden and also to plant it a good distance away from the house. If homeowners do not follow this advice they may find an increased risk of subsidence and the need for an insurance claim. Leylandii and Willow are two of the most troublesome trees it has been found.
A Sainsburys Bank spokesman revealed that home insurance claims for subsidence have cost British insurers over GBP700,000 per day over the last 5 years. It is therefore important to be aware of the risks before going ahead with planting a tree.
