The average weekly cost of contents insurance is less than takeaway meals – yet Brits aren’t buying!
What is Contents Insurance?
Although it is not compulsory, household contents cover ensures your material goods are protected in the event of a claim, this will include electrical items, furniture, jewellery and clothing. If you were to imagine tipping your house upside down and totaled all of the items that fell out, would you want them protected?
New records show that some 6 million UK households are without contents Insurance despite averages falling to new lows. The Association of British Insurer’s (ABI) Home Insurance Premium Tracker suggests that the annual premium for contents insurance has dropped to £127.00 a year or £2.20 a week compared to takeaways averaging at £4.40 – yet so many of us are still not covering our personal possessions.
The reason why? Laura Hughes (ABI’s senior policy adviser for general insurance) believes; “insuring possessions may be seen as unaffordable or unnecessary but spend a few minutes totting up the value of all possessions and you’ll realise they can add up to a significant sum if they all need to be replaced at once”. National figures show that premiums haven’t been this low since 2015 however Laura believes:
“Too many households are still playing Russian roulette with their possessions”
So who are the least likely to cover their belongings in the country? Stats show 45% of Londoner’s are without the cover and the North East comes in second highest with 32% of people without insurance put in place in the event of a claim. These figures are considerably high in comparison to Northern Ireland residents of whom only 18% are without contents cover and the South East at 19%. (Figures as seen on ABI analysis of Office for National Statistics data).
ABI believe contents insurance sits in a highly competitive market and for those without it, “there are a range of specialist policies available to give you the cover you need at an affordable price… tailored to your needs and your budget”. So with the above in mind, if you fall into the statistics of not having contents cover, would you now consider covering it knowing it could cost you less than your weekly Chinese? Food for thought.
