The value of home insurance

One of the most significant investments you can make in your lifetime is your outlay in the bricks and mortar of your home. In the same way as you want to protect your car (as another significant expense), it makes sense to safeguard your home.

Mortgage lenders will insist on at least a basic level of insurance on any home you are purchasing with a loan so that, in the event of something critical occurring, they can guarantee receiving the sum outstanding on that mortgage.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) produces an annual report called the Property Insurance Premium Tracker, which analyses nearly 28 million insurances policies each year. In the latest report, published on 12 August 2024, there are some interesting headlines, which underline the value of home insurance.

• Insurers paid a total value of £1.4 billion in claims in the second quarter of the year to home owners and business owners
• This represents a 5% increase on the value of payouts against the first quarter
• At the same time, the value of the payouts for homeowners rose by 16%
• Claims for damage caused by storms, heavy rain and frozen pipes exceeded £100 million for the fifth successive quarter
• Subsidence claims also increased, reaching a record highest value in a quarter

What these key points underline is that problems created by adverse weather events are not only increasing in the impact it has on property across the country, but is also increasing in severity and impact.

Because of the increased payouts, it should not be surprising that the premiums paid have to increase in order to manage the increase in the number of claims being made.

There is a significant difference, too, between the types of insurance for a property, with buildings-only policies increasing by 7% over the quarter, and contents-only cover increasing by 4% over the same period.

Louise Clark, Policy Adviser at the ABI, said: 

“Home insurance continues to play a vital role in supporting customers when the worst happens. 

“Despite rising cost pressures, insurers remain committed to doing everything they can to offer competitively-priced cover and help their customers during a claim.  

“Our latest figures demonstrate the devastating impact that adverse weather can have on people and their homes. 

“That's why it's important that the government takes the opportunity to reform the planning system, to focus on prevention and resilience measures to help reduce our nation's vulnerability to the effects of climate change. 

“Urgent government action to tackle surface water flooding and maintain flood investments and maintenance will also help reduce the future impact of flooding.” 

As Ms. Clark points out, the situation needs careful management, particularly where disruptive extreme weather events continue to impact the stability of housing for the future.

But, for right now, it is essential that you take out insurance to protect your property, whilst also considering the importance of the contents to you. After all, if disaster strikes and the house is badly hit by the effects of extreme weather, you want to ensure that you can replace everything possible that is important to you.

If you want guidance on the conveyancing for buying a detached home - or any other property for that matter - you'll need the best, high-quality service at a competitive price.

That's where you can rely on the experts at Homeward Legal! 

They will start work on your planned purchase (and/or sale) as soon as you agree to the quotation and appoint them to represent you. 

Homeward Legal will also provide a quote that will not change - what you are quoted is what you pay for standard conveyancing process.

There are some unforeseen items that might arise during the purchase and/or sale, but the solicitor discusses these and their cost as they come up. 

In addition, to protect the homebuyer further, Homeward Legal operates a ‘no completion, no fee' promise, which ensures that, should the purchase or sale not go through as planned to completion status, no payment is required.

Call  to get your conveyancing quote started, or to discuss your concerns with your plans to move.

Or you can get a quick quote, using Homeward Legal's easy-to-use quote generator.