The UK Insurance Blog

Hang the expense because boiler insurance is very necessary. It may seem like an unnecessary cost especially considering all your other outgoings, but imagine how dreadful it would be if your boiler was to pack in right in the middle of a harsh winter. Boiler insurance offers peace of mind and is a necessary expense despite tightening our belts (on the scale that we all are). According to the article “If the heating suddenly packs up, who will get you out of hot water?” a large number of boiler insurance policies are currently being cancelled because of the credit crunch.

According to the price comparison website, uswitch.com, over a million households have switched off their boiler insurance cover. Is this a false economy as we consider the overwhelming statistics? Over thirty percent of boilers will actually break down within six years of its installation. The repair bill for a boiler averages out to about £220 and a brand new boiler will cost £2,500. Could we be making a mistake in cancelling our boiler insurance in an effort to cut costs?

Breakdown contracts are not however favoured by the consumer organisation “Which?” who claim it is cheaper to call out an engineer than to pay for insurance cover.
The people at “Confused.com” argue boiler insurance is worth the money however. Boiler insurance does tend to vary according to your provider so it is important to check exactly what you are covered for.

There are a number of ways to ensure your boiler is protected including through your energy supplier, through a new product warranty or through your home insurance. If your provider is Esure, you can elect their Home Emergency cover as an addition to your buildings or home contents provision for an additional £44.99 a year. With Home Emergency, not only your boiler is covered but also your plumbing, drainage, domestic power and main heating are protected too.

If you are after specific boiler insurance, which includes an annual service and emergency boiler professionals, the price varies between £5.99 and £8.99 a month. There seems no end to the list of providers to choose from so you would do well to shop around for the best deal.

For household with an aging boiler waiting to break down, an energy efficient replacement could cost as little as £800 and can save you over a hundred pounds in bills. When you do proceed in getting a new boiler, your priority is to ensure it is checked regularly for carbon monoxide omissions.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

As another terror campaign hits the Indian city of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) we find ourselves asking ourselves the question, are we insured for terrorism? According to the article “Terrorism: the more attacks, the less insurers covering you for it” ‘terrorism insurance’ is difficult to find.

Norwich Union, immediately the 07/07 bombings hit London with a terror campaign, were observed amending the home insurance policy content. Their new wording stated clearly and concisely that terrorism acts were not to be covered. No fewer than sixteen large insurance companies followed suit stating clearly that terrorism could not be insured against.

Despite the likelihood of a terrorist attack being very small, when they do happen, all the usual risk models go out the window. In terms of monetary and financial value, insurance is engineered to protect against the threat of the probable to the very improbable. Terrorist attacks are considered extraordinary events and so it is difficult for any insurance company to realistically account for it. One terrorist attack is capable of being highly catastrophic within a concentrated and minimal period of time and so is difficult to measure.

The cost of the damage of the IRA attack on the Manchester Shopping Centre in 1996 exceeded £200 million while the Canary Wharf bomb attack caused over a hundred million.

The government are looking at ways to encourage our insurance companies with some sort of encouragement to provide terrorist cover. Once such incentive is to get insurance companies to pool their resources. According to an article in the Telegraph following 9/11, negotiations have taken place instigated by the government between insurers and something called Pool Re. Pool Re is a scheme whereby insurance companies and the Government join forces to provide a guarantee that any losses brought about by acts of terrorism to enterprises will be covered.

In the meantime, it is very difficult to come by terrorism insurance although the situation does seem to be in a state of elementary metamorphosis. Although terrorism cover is practically impossible to come by, you may be able to achieve it through your travel insurance policy (check your small print for confirmation!)

Fire accidents in the UK every year average 45,000, equating to a whopping annual bill of millions of pounds worth of damage (not to mention the risk to health and safety – 300 people were killed in house fires in 2006). According to the article “Sharp increase in house fires during winter months” the likelihood of us placing a claim on our home insurance for fire damage increases by sixty one per cent in December. We need to be ever vigilant for fire hazards during the winter months because if ever you were likely to have a fire, it would be now, during the Christmas season.

As a result of analysing trends of fire claims between September 2007 and August 2008, Direct Line discovered first of all that it was the Summer that produced fewer fire claims than any other season and that secondly, fires become more common as we head towards the winter. They found that average total fire claims increased by 25% throughout the autumn and increased by 50% in the winter.

With statistics revealing the likelihood of fire incidences being much lower in July and August than any other time of the year we can all be on our guard as we prepare to embark upon the season with the worst house fire occurrences.

Thinks to look out for in order to prevent a house fire are our Christmas lights. They may look pretty but fairy lights and illuminations are the worst fire contributors of the lot! Next ensure your open fire is secured and not left un-manned and the same applies to oil burners and candles.

Take the proper precautions when smoking indoors. During the winter months, we would rather keep warm when we are puffing away so there is a tendency to fall asleep with a cigarette left burning.

Fires are additionally caused during the winter through faulty electric blankets, heaters and other electrical items. Do not leave them on unattended for long periods of time or you will risk a fire starting.

Thanks to campaigns to increase awareness of fire hazards and the presence of smoke alarms, we are on our way to protecting our families and preventing incidences of fire in our homes. Direct Line who have been monitoring the trends in fire claims throughout the year are now taking positive steps and providing safety information for their customers. One such significant piece of fire safety advice is that a smoke alarm should be placed on every floor in your home to detect swiftly any threat. By testing your smoke alarm every week in case the battery runs out and discarding old Christmas tree lights you are on the road to good home fire safety. Other fire safety measures include not smoking in bed, not overloading power sockets, keeping matches and lighters away from children, not burning candles near curtains, under shelves or on the bath and always having a fire escape plan.

Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat, as they say, so now is the time that we ought to check our Christmas present insurance according the moneysupermarket website in the article “Unwrap the right cover this Christmas!”

Even amidst all this doom and gloom brought on by the credit crunch, Christmas brings out the generous side in people and we can find our cupboards suddenly packed with expensive present items. These added valuables are rarely remembered on the home insurance however.

Now is the time to make sure those extra valuables are covered for the pickings are about to get extremely rich for the house burglars. They’ll be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of Christmas so you need to make sure you are prepared. All the more important is that you are not under-insured, say the money supermarket, having to pay out huge excesses because you have misunderstood your cover.

The good news is that insurance companies increase your home contents cover automatically but by how much, it can inevitably vary. Generally at Christmas, an insurance provider will increase contents values by 10% with no extra charge. One exception is the AA who increases their value of contents by 20% between December and January.

There are two sides to every coin and the point of the article is that you need to be aware whether or not your insurer will increase their contents cover because while some vary by up to 20%, not all companies vary at all such as Endsleigh. Endsleigh does not and will not provide instant free extra cover over Christmas so many customers could find themselves misguided and under-protected – only finding out at the worst time, when they come to claim.

Thousands of ex-offenders are being helped to get their lives back on track in more ways than one! The Delite Insurance Agency offer a unique service by not only providing home insurance cover to people who are struggling but provide advice and support where needed too.

According to a recent article issued by the National Association of Reformed Offenders “Concerns about insurance for ex-offenders” difficulties with insurance often arise when an ex-offender sets up home with their family after a spell in prison. Premiums can often go through the roof once this information is disclosed so people avoid disclosing this information when the time of renewal comes. Thanks to Delite, insurance premiums do not have to go through the roof and there is no question of holding back information regarding the new addition to your house. In addition, thanks to Delite, people who have returned to society from a spell in prison are offered a new lease of life when all too often they are held back or constantly under further pressure to resort back to ‘old ways’.

Delite who have joined forces with JML insurance for the last eighteen months are working together to offer an insurance product that is not standard and geared towards specific circumstances. The companies are set to assist many more ex-offenders in addition to their client base of Northern Ireland residents.

Getting ready for Christmas involves much more than ordering the turkey and seeing the reindeers according to the article “All I want for Christmas is …”. In preparing for Christmas we need to ensure that we have adequate insurance cover in case the freezer breaks down or the house gets burgled. The Norwich and Peterborough Building Society are concerned that we are overlooking the necessity of protection throughout a time when accidents and oversights could have drastic consequences. While it is not exactly getting into the festive spirit a bit of common sense in advance will provide peace of mind and save us from adding to our Christmas anxieties. Approaching Christmas and writing our shopping lists, this is the perfect time to address our concerns rather than later on.

The article goes on to provide a series of recommendations to ensure you enjoy a stress free Christmas including the matter of house security (what with all the presents that will be sat under the tree).

One top suggestion is that we make sure our insurance cover includes accidental damage. Imagine the scene, the secret stash of Babycham has been discovered by Uncle Bob. Arms a-flaying to the tunes of the Elvis “White Christmas” LP at teatime and things could get extremely messy!

Another suggestion is to check your insurance policy covers your freezer packed with food breaking down. In most houses in the UK, that could be hundreds of pounds of food down the pan so its very worthwhile.

Additional recommendations include taking your presents out of full view of the window and the outside world, leaving your central heating on (very low) to ensure your pipes don’t freeze and wreck the house when a pipe bursts and purchase some security lights for the exterior of your house.

In the event of a disaster happening over the Christmas period, what you need to be ready to do is make repairs to ensure your home is weather proofed and safe and keep all receipts ready for when your insurance company requests them. Make sure you find out (in advance) the Claims Assistance number, a phone book with tradesmen contact information and last but not least read the small print of your insurance cover to make sure it suits.

Merry Christmas!

There is a new trend about to take off, according to a recent article “All under one roof”, for people to seriously consider opening up their homes to family members. But with all these people living under one roof, will we be losing out because we are forgetting to inform our insurance companies of the increased value of our collective belongings?

Twenty six per cent of people surveyed informed researchers they would go as far as to purchase a bigger sized home to be able to accommodate extended family members. Twenty seven per cent revealed they would consider purchasing a home in conjunction with in-laws or parents as they approach their twilight years.

Currently, sixty seven per cent of people living in the British Isles live with their family but in the future this is expected to change. While the larger proportion of people surveyed stated they would need a bigger property in order to take care of older relatives, thirty one percent saw the financial benefits of a decision such as this while eleven per cent claimed they would prefer sharing their roof with a number of family relatives.

The people at Halifax Home Insurance recognise this return of the trend where the generations live together is due primarily to our current social and economic situation. People actually want to live together again (as opposed to being more independent as was the trend in the not so distant past) and see the financial advantages of this. People’s attitudes towards multi-generational co-habitation can vary according to geography, it would seem. If you live in the south east, you are more likely to want to live with your older parents than those living in the west.

Regarding the matter of home contents insurance, where more people live under one roof, one would expect the number of valuable personal belongings to be greater. It is easy to end up with less cover than you need unless you take out an unlimited cover policy like that on offer at the Halifax. With research showing people are sometimes not clued in as to what the correct values are of family members’ belongings, more often than not, homes are underinsured, and this is a worry.

Should a family member move in with you, it will be beneficial to all concerned to inform your insurance provider alerting them to those extra items of higher value that you now need to cover.

If you want to survive the credit crunch, Nick James, proprietor of an online UK entrepreneur support site insists if you follow his sensible tips you won’t go far wrong.

According to his article “Cutting costs in the credit crunch” the best thing you can do is to ensure your business insurance is in order. He insists, the last thing you should do is to place your business at risk in an attempt to save money, so before anything else, now is a good time to get your business insurance in order.

Think things over carefully before making decisions; never act on rash decisions.

Strengthen your position by concentrating on providing an excellent customer service and looking at ways to reduce marginal costs. He insists we should avoid being tempted by short term solutions for they can often lead to nightmare in the long term.

With everybody feeling the pressure of higher prices and wanting to hold on to their money, it is up to small businesses especially to ensure they are not ignored when invoices are due for paying. Attention needs to be paid to cash flow in particular and if customers are struggling to pay their bills at least agree when they can pay you and put in place a late payment surcharge. Lack of cash flow is one of the chief causes for 60% of businesses failing in its first three years of operation.

The millionaire business adviser rules out the necessity of taking out a short term loan secured on your house in order to survive the crunch. He insists this is a risky solution especially at the present time and should be avoided if at all possible. If you do need assistance to tide you over, it would be better to take a small loan on the business rather than turning to the good old credit card to bail you out.

Saving money wherever possible is essential throughout these demanding times. One easy way to save money is to look at your internet and phone line provision. These companies are highly competitive with one another and will do their best to beat any other deals you are currently getting.

The message overall is to focus on running an efficient operation in order to live through the credit crunch.

In the article “Home insurance could save the day this school holiday”  we are alerted to the fact our children’s school holidays could cost us a fortune.

Every time there is a school holiday, the house is at greater risk of a disaster occurring than any other time. Things get a bit wild, the kids lunge about and before you know it, your favourite Ming vase is a ‘gonna’!

The company ‘Sheila’s Wheels’ have looked into the subject and have discovered £0.5 billion worth of electrical item damage is caused by bored children in the UK during the school holidays. We should take heed of this and look seriously into our home contents insurance.

Twenty five per cent of children break or damage electrical equipment which adds up to £553 million paid out in the UK to replace these things or repair them. The average child will cause damage to the tune of £183. Over one in five mums and dads claimed on their home contents insurance because of the damage caused by their children. If you were wondering what articles get damaged the most, it would have to be digital cameras and laptops at the top of the lists.

The thing to do is to get adequate insurance for your possessions so you don’t have to come home to face a horrendous bill. Only a quarter of parents questioned said they would get their children to pay for the damage as a punishment so kids generally get off lightly it would seem!

In the event of damage during the school holidays, many parents are having to foot the bill themselves. Seventeen per cent of parents do not have any kind of insurance themselves preferring to foot the bill if and when disaster occurs.

Look out the schools have emptied out!. This is the main time when things get broken and someone has to face the music, according to the people at Sheila’s Wheels that is! If you have a family, the message is, don’t take any chances with your belongings. Store away your important valuables and create plenty of space for the children to play in.

Everyone remembers those terrible floods of 2007. Hull was hit severely by high water levels and the devastation was at its most terrible. In his article “Hundreds of Hull residents still suffering from last year’s floods”  Paul Mitchell discusses the dreadful aftermath.

During 2007, Britain experienced rainfall levels it had never seen before. Thirteen people lost their lives and over fifty five thousand homes and businesses were severely flooded. Last summer was thought of as the biggest emergency in peacetime for the last 60 years. Five hundred thousand people lost their electricity supply and water while 8 motorways and many railway lines had to be closed. Britain had come to a standstill particularly up in Hull where 95% of properties are a flood risk. The total value of home insurance claims submitted was over £3 billion. In Hull over seven thousand homes were ravaged by floodwater causing the drains and the sewers to overflow. Most of these people experienced problems with the processing of their insurance claims.

Although the floods happened a year ago, it may come as a surprise to find that many of the people affected by the devastation are still living out of accommodation that is temporary. Such accommodation is a cramped caravan parked up on the drive.

The article met with local residents who voiced some opinions of their experiences. A local couple, Liam and Jo who have lived in their home for five years, described how the flood water poured into the house through the floorboards. The water level reached three to four feet above floor level. For six months afterwards they were living with their in-laws before their downstairs was put right. As a consequence to claiming for all the flooding damage, the couple are now paying higher insurance premiums. How can this be right?

Since the flooding, the couple reported a downturn in community communication. There was a single meeting arranged for after the floods and surprisingly, no action carried out. The community was consequently in uproar over this travesty.

A local builder called Phil, a resident of the area for over ten years has noticed a decline in the social side of the community. There is an overwhelming feeling of displacement about the area as a number of people, he claimed, have moved away. Phil stuck around and moved to the upstairs floor of his house while carrying out his repairs which he paid for himself. He helped to pump the water out of his neighbours gardens for four days barely resting during that time. What does Phil say about the local council? He blames them for the neglect of the infrastructure of the drains and reports they haven’t been touched for 10 years. It’s about time they did something.

A number of people are still living out of their temporary homes, many of which are caravans parked outside their houses. There are reports that people are still having problems with insurance claims twelve months after the floods. While the floors were certified dry (a month following the flooding) they were beginning to get wet again. All became glaringly obvious, this was not a problem that was going to go away!
Following an official review of last year’s floods, Sir Michael Pitt issued an apology but attempted to shift the majority of the responsibility onto the householder and not the local councils, water authorities and insurance companies. Shocking all who listened to his comments, he stressed that the victims of the floods should not expect the government to help them out.

An independent inquiry found that Yorkshire Water was greatly to blame for the extent of the damages caused by the floods. Additionally, it found evidence that requests for maintenance were ignored and that a new sewer system was grossly ineffective.

Following the Pitt review, the Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn advised of an action plan set to take place in the Autumn. That £5 million would be set aside for risk assessments as well as a budget of a quarter of a million pounds to be spent to a flood drill. Many feel it will take considerably more funds to turn back the clocks on the current weakened and ineffective flood defence effort.