You need to make an effective comparison for home insurance to get the best deal in the market. Home insurance comes with a hefty price tag, so you need to find the best home insurance deals. The average home insurance cost comes at £146 to £152 a year. In a cost of living crisis that’s a lot of money because almost everything is surging in price at the same time.
In a recent Survey by YouGov, 30% of people said that home insurance is expensive. The problem is that despite this expense, we all know it’s necessary. In fact, 49% of respondents said that home insurance is necessary, reassuring (31%), comforting (18%) and gives them peace of mind (41%).
That’s because you have to consider those dreaded scenarios. What would you do if something happened an you didn’t have any home insurance cover. For example:
If your phone got stolen, could you afford to replace it like for like.
You had belongings that were damaged, stolen or lost.
Your home was burgled or hit by fire or flood.
Your home became so badly damaged that you couldn’t live there.
Cancelling insurance could save you money in the short term – but it might end up costing you more. If you can afford to, it makes sense to keep your insurance cover to give you peace of mind. Should you cancel your insurance to save money?
Disclaimer: Please note this is not financial advice and you are responsible for your own financial decisions. This article is sponsored by HSBC and may contain affiliate links.
Consider Buying Life Insurance To Protect Your Home For Your Family
You may also want to consider the role of life insurance in protecting your home. It’s never easy to think about what might happen to your family if the main earner were to die or suffer a serious illness or injury. Ask yourself if there’s a possibility you might lose your home if you had no cover?
Bear in mind also that if you cancel a policy now but plan to take out single or joint life cover again later, it’s likely to be more expensive because you’ll be older. You might even find it hard to get life insurance again if you’re in worse health than when you originally took out a policy.
Check out HSBC Life for more information around this topic.
What Home Insurance Is Best For You?
You may have specific questions around home insurance relating to your personal situation. This might include:
What type of home insurance do I need on a new build
What type of home insurance do I need if I am a privately rented tenant?
Your living situation may dictate if you need both buildings insurance and contents insurance. You may just need Contents Only Insurance or Buildings Only Insurance. Selecting the right type of cover will help you to avoid overspending on your home insurance.
How To Make A Comparison Of Home Insurance
Researching the best deals for my home insurance is a task I definitely dislike. It’s tedious and time consuming and can be confusing. I’m sure you would all agree with me. In fact, 47% of the YouGov respondents said they spend up to 1 hour researching home insurance. If you are anything like my partner and I then you will fall into the category that spends 1-2 hours (17%) making home insurance comparisons. Some will even spend 1 day to a week (7%) trying to get the best deals for home insurance.
We can all agree that using price comparison websites are invaluable to finding the best deals for home insurance. If you are not using them, then I don’t know how you cope. I personally use insurance comparison websites such as Money Supermarket or Confused.Com.
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How To Get The Best Value For Money On Your Home Insurance
When it comes to home insurance, whilst we know that price is a critical factor but quality is equally as important. In fact, the YouGov survey reports that 71% said quality of cover was important to them, with price coming in second at 69%.
Like I say, it’s not just about the cheapest insurer. You have to go with a provider that you trust and has a good reputation. 38% of people agree with the later. I’ve been strung in the past because my insurer has wiggled out of their commitment to providing a good quality service.
It’s also worth taking the time to make sure you have the right level of cover. HSBC offer some easy-to-follow home insurance recommendation. For example:
Accidental damage cover is usually an optional extra, so you could remove it if you don’t think it offers good value for money.
Paying extra for things like having your bike covered? Most policies cover bikes as standard within the home. So if you’re working from home more these days, you might not need any extra cover.
Increase your excess to down your premium. Just remember that if you do make a claim, the excess is the amount you’ll have to pay yourself.
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Award Winning Home Insurance From HSBC
Quality and trust is key with home insurance. As I mentioned, I’ve personally been hit by a bad travel insurance provider. HSBC has a strong reputation for being a good home insurance provider:
5 Star rated by Defaqto: HSBC Home Insurance is rated 5 Star by Defaqto. Defaqto This link will open in a new window, the independent financial information business. This means HSBC’s policy is one of the most comprehensive in the market.
5 Star rated by Moneyfacts: Moneyfacts has awarded us a top 5 Star rating for our range of features and benefits in their annual review of all home insurance available in the UK.
3 Consumer Intelligence awards: In 2022 HSBC Home Insurance has won in 3 categories: customer service, customer trust and recommendation by customers. The awards are based on real customer feedback.
You should always consider star ratings for agencies when you make a comparison of home insurance policies. Ratings from the companies such as Defaqto are a key indicator of the quality of the insurance provider too.
Thinking About Cancelling Your Home Insurance?
To conclude, home insurance can feel very expensive. Especially when in any normal given year, you don’t get burgled or have a fire in your home. If you are thinking about cancelling your home insurance to save money, then I’d recommend you visit HSBC’s dedicated page to help you decide.
This page offers lots of great tips and can point you in the right direction. It can help you find the best quality insurance for you. Rather than cancelling your home insurance you might be able to make it more affordable.
The problem with home insurance is that catastrophe comes when we least expect it. Not having home insurance can come at a serious cost and the financial shock may be far greater than your premiums. Therefore, you need to hedge your bets and build financial resilience to deal with whatever might come your way.
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