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.
Results from a recent Sainsburys Bank survey show around 4.7 million adults in the UK are without home contents insurance cover.
The most insured area in the UK is Yorkshire and Humberside, where 96 percent of people have contents insurance. This contrasts with London, the least insured place in the country, where only 78 percent of people have cover. Sainsburys Bank urge people without home insurance to get cover as it offers peace of mind and financial cover for what can end up as a significant sum.
With regard to the reasons for not having contents insurance the main reason given was that it simply was not required. This was followed by it being too costly. A Sainsburys Bank spokesman suggested these people should firstly tot up the value of their possessions and then check online to see how inexpensive home contents insurance can be.
A fascinating fact about the music festival season is that three out of four people attending them lose possessions while there according to Zurich Insurance.
The study carried out by Zurich found that the typical value of items taken to music festivals by people is over GBP260. The most commonly taken possessions include mobile phones, cameras and MP3 players. The majority of items that go missing are simply left behind, in tents or in bags, with only 10 percent of them being stolen.
Good advice from Zurich Insurance is for festivalgoers to check with their home contents insurer that they will be covered at the festival they are attending. This way at least the financial aspect of losing personal possessions will be dealt with.