Pay less for your home insurance today
By Damian Clarkson    10th December 2007

Are you being ripped off on your home insurance? Over a quarter (26%) of UK householders simply renew their home insurance policy without bothering to look for a cheaper quote, new research by Sainsbury’s Bank has found.

But of this group only 1% believed they had received the cheapest possible quote, meaning 8.47 million Brits are willing to overpay on their insurance.

Why? Some say they simply haven’t the time, but one of the main reasons is that insurance shopping is a painfully boring experience, ranking right up there with watching paint dry (or any TV show featuring Russell Brand).

And insurers are well aware of our inertia, using it as a means to charge existing customers far more than new ones. But there is an upside: it’s easy to turn this to your advantage.

Get a low cost home insurance quote here

Switch for the best home insurance prices
Like any successful business, insurers are always looking to increase their customer base. But in order to spur people into switching they have to provide a fairly strong incentive, and that means significantly better deals for anyone willing to shop around.

EveryInvestor conducted a quick search and found discounts ranging from 10% to 50% - all exclusively reserved for new customers. In fact, even Sainsbury’s admitted in the fine print of its research that existing customers weren’t eligible for its ‘12 months for the price of nine’ offer.

It’s also worth mentioning that shopping around for cover isn’t quite as difficult as it once was. Thanks to the proliferation of online shopping and price comparison sites, you can now get a number of quotes from home, and it will only take a few minutes.

So the rewards for shopping around are greater, and the effort required to do so is less. We’re not saying it will be fun; just that it’ll be worth it.

Looking for high value cover? Get a Hiscox home cover quote here

Inertia still big business for insurers
Sadly, most of us simply aren’t doing so. On top of the 26% of survey respondents who don’t shop around at all, a further 16% go to just one other competitor. In fact, just 22% of homeowners bother to get three or more quotes when it comes time to renew their policy.

“Although it may seem tempting to just stick with your renewal quote or the first quote you get, it really is essential to shop around,” says Sainsbury’s insurance head Steve Johnson.

“Products vary dramatically and there are some cracking deals out there if people take the time to evaluate what's on offer.”

Get a low cost home insurance quote here

How to maximise your insurance
Probably the easiest, yet most significant, way to cut the cost of any new policy is to apply for it online - Tesco is currently offering a 50% discount for doing so, and most other providers have similarly attractive deals.

Another way to cut your insurance costs is to check you haven’t mistakenly ‘doubled up’ on certain cover. For example, some home insurance policies include cover for mobile phones or similar digital devices as standard, so you may not need an additional policy.

Finally, those of you with children at university can get free contents insurance - – provided they live in halls of residence - by getting them to take out cover under your policy.

That’s because many insurers offer cover for up to £5,000 worth of possessions or 15% of the sum insured on the parent’s cover free of charge. If you want a more in-depth look at how to make the most of your home insurance, click here

Looking for high value cover? Get a Hiscox home cover quote here

Article produced by EveryInvestor.co.uk