The Halifax is reminding all homeowners that they should ensure lightning cover is part of their home insurance especially as summer sees more claims.
According to data from Halifax home insurance customers the average claim for lightning damage costs over GBP 1,400 and such claims are 14 times more common in the summer than winter. The thing with lightning is that it can travel through things, so as well as causing actual damage to the structure of a building it can also go through wires and affect electrical equipment and so on.
A Halifax spokesman also pointed out that lightning can not be anticipated so no one knows where it will strike. For this reason checking the home insurance policy to make sure lightning cover is included is a sensible step to take.
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 Sainsburys Bank around 20 percent of UK homeowners are planning major changes to the structure of their properties in the next 12 months, though how many of them realise they should tell their insurer is another matter.
Around a third of those planning their home improvements were nor aware that their insurer should be made aware of the changes. Logically it makes sense since home insurance uses the information provided by the owner to determine the policy cost. If someone then adds on a new kitchen and conservatory for example the insurance company, be it Sainsburys Bank or another, would need to know the changes to make sure they are insured.
It is perhaps easy to forget about home insurance, said a Sainsburys Bank spokesman, since it is not visible and covers the house, but property changes really can change the value of the property and the amount it needs to be insured for. For this reason property owners should advise their insurer of the changes and save themselves problems in the future.
