UK customers could be missing cheaper home insurance deals by failing to shop around for cheaper covers.
One in four homeowners auto-renew their home insurance without looking for better quotes, potentially causing them to lose out on cheaper quotes or extras, according to a survey from financial services comparison platform Go Compare.
Of the 2,000 Brits surveyed, nearly 10 per cent admitted to forgetting to shop around until it’s too late and their auto-renewal had already gone through, as they juggle managing other insurance policies.
Nathan Blackler, channel development manager for property at Go Compare, said, “Home insurance is just one of many policies and contracts the average home owner juggles at any given time.”
“So it’s easy to see why letting a policy automatically renew for another 12 months feels like the simplest option”.
Most likely to auto renew?
Among the survey findings, it was shown that men are more likely to let their policy auto-renew compared to women, with 28 per cent doing so, compared to 21 per cent of women.
It also found that home owners aged 25-34 were the most likely age demographic to auto renew, with 35 per cent admitting they did not look for better deals.
Blackler credited this lack of urgency in hunting for a new policy to an assumption that insurance cover needs “will have stayed much the same” over the course of the year, especially if consumers have “done little or no changes” to their property.
But this is not always the case, with the values of properties changing regularly due to external factors such as interest rate cuts and supply and demand issues. Minor repairs such as fixing a leaky tap can also change a home’s valuation.
Blackler said, “When it’s time to renew, think about any work you have had done to your home, the value of the property and the level of cover you need for your contents.”
Shop in advance
Despite some home owners losing out on savings, nearly a third do shop around for other covers well in advance of the renewal date.
A further quarter opt to wait until their renewal is to look at other covers, if switching providers will save them money.
Some policies offer extras like legal cover, home emergency assistance, or accidental damage protection with no extra costs.
Blackler finished, “It’s always worth comparing policies to see if you can get a better deal and checking whether your needs have changed.”