More and more first-time buyers are making their way onto the UK property market right now. Help to Buy ISAs are all the rage, while changes to stamp duty are helping those buying lower-value properties avoid hefty fees. Meanwhile, the rate of house price growth in the UK hasn’t been as slow as it is now for a whopping five years, according to FT Adviser.
However, if there’s one crucial aspect many of these buyers may well be overlooking, it’s pinning down a great deal on home insurance.
It’s totally understandable; when you’re trying to secure your first home, things can get chaotic…and expensive. There are papers to sign, payments to make, removals to arrange and, of course, house warming parties to plan.
Thinking about the things that could go wrong in the future plays second fiddle to thinking about the things that need arranging in the present. And that’s how home insurance gets left by the wayside.
Planning for the what-ifs is key, though. Here’s why.
Home insurance is more affordable than you think
You’ve just bought your first house and money is probably tight. Why bother shelling out for expensive home insurance policies at a time like this, then? It’s not like anyone uses them, anyway.
Well, we’ll address that second misconception in just a moment, but let’s start at the top.
Home insurance policies are expensive.
The truth is, they’re almost certainly far more affordable than you think, and great deals can be found if you give yourself time to shop around. In fact, the average cost of home insurance in the UK at the time of writing is £163, according to Bought By Many Ltd. You probably spend more per year on your phone contract.
You might be a victim of burglary
Let’s move onto that other misconception—no one even uses their home insurance policy, because nobody ever gets burgled nowadays.
When was the last time you knew somebody whose home was broken into? Maybe never. It can be easy to lull yourself into a false sense of security.
However, statistics have shown that your chances of being burgled are actually higher over the winter months. (Perhaps thieves are convinced they can get away under the cover of darkness as the nights draw in?)
Either way, on the off-chance you are a victim of burglary, the last thing you want to be worrying about is how to replace all the belongings that were wrongfully taken from you. Home insurance (assuming it includes ‘contents insurance’ that is) can help assuage that panic, because many policies will cover the cost of replacing stolen goods. You may even be covered for damage caused to the house in the process. Need to replace that smashed window? That’s what insurance, not savings, is for.
Home insurance is about more than theft
This brings me smoothly onto my next point: home insurance is about more than just covering yourself in case you’re burgled.
In fact, home insurance policies can cover you in cases of natural disaster—think flooding, fires or even strong winds that decimate your roof tiles.
They can also cover you for accidents in the home too, if you have ‘accidental damage cover’ on your policy. Say you knock coffee over your laptop (we’ve all had that heart-stopping moment), that’s where accidental damage cover comes in handy. And, if you have an ‘out of home’ cover clause (check the fine print!), your home insurance policy may even protect your portable items—think bikes, phones and cameras—when you’re away from home too.
Similarly, home emergency cover (for things like boilers going on the fritz) can provide even more peace of mind, should you choose to add it to your policy.
Finally, and arguably more importantly, some mortgage lenders won’t give you the money until you can prove you’ve purchased home insurance. What more incentive do you need?
Getting home insurance isn’t as hard as you think
Following on from the above, home insurance, as well as being more affordable and useful than you might think, can also be easy to sort out.
Securing insurance can mean wading through tons of paperwork and taking huge chunks of time out of your day to do so. It needn’t be like that, if you go through an intuitive insurance provider such as gobuzzvault.
They allow you to record your possessions yourself, using your cell phone, eliminating the need to hang around waiting for a stranger to come in and eyeball your belongings.
A certified video surveyor then gives an accurate valuation of said belongings, and you receive your quotes. (Why is getting a truly accurate valuation important, you might wonder? Well, overestimating can lead to you paying more for the insurance, while underpaying means you might not receive enough to cover repairs and replacements in case you have to make a claim.)
Goodbye tedious form filling; hello accurate quotes and digital record of your most prized (and, let’s be honest, some not so prized) possessions.
Basically, when it comes to your property and your financial security should anything happen to it, it’s not worth taking a chance. Home insurance is a must.
