Insurance News Brits Putting Valuables At Risk By Cutting Back On Home Contents Insurance

Written by Editorial Team

23 March 2009 / by Rachael Stiles

British households are putting their valuable possessions at risk by using cut backs on home insurance to ride out the recession, research from uSwitch.com has found.

The study reveals that 18 per cent of UK households have not got home contents insurance, with nearly half admitting that they cannot afford it at the moment as the current economic climate clouds their household finances and stretches their budget.

People who rent their home are the most likely to leave themselves vulnerable to loss from break-ins and breakages, it seems, with 30 per cent forgoing home insurance, while 11 per cent not getting it because they believe they are protected by their landlords’ insurance, which is often not the case.

Some Brits are even putting their social lives and annual holidays ahead of their valuables, as 10 per cent are sacrificing the latter for the former.

And now is not the time to be cutting back on this type of protection, uSwitch says, becasue the recession has led to a four per cent increase in domestic burglaries.

“We are fast becoming a nation of contents cover scrappers, as renters and homeowners try to cut back and save money during the current recession,” says Mark Monteiro, insurance expert at uSwitch.com.

“The fact that nearly half of homeowners and renters alike don’t feel they can afford home contents insurance at the moment is a worrying sign of the times.

“Yet, with recent crime figures revealing domestic burglaries to be on the up, as has proven the historic norm in a recessionary climate, consumers are running the gauntlet by putting themselves increasingly at risk simply to make a short term saving.

Mr Monteiro urges households to remember the potential long term financial consequences if they are victims of burglary without having contents insurance in place, suffering loss of possessions and damage to property.

“Home contents insurance, though not legally required, should be regarded as a necessity,” he concluded.

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