New research finds that 14% of Brits have never switched their home insurance
12% just renew their policy every year but a third (33%) shop around every 12 months
According to new research from Go.Compare home insurance, 14% of homeowners with buildings or contents insurance admit they have never switched providers.
The same research, which surveyed over 2000 people, also found that of those who have home insurance, a further 11% have not switched for more than five years, but it also revealed that there are some savvy switchers out there, with 33% saying that they have switched in the last year.
When asked why they hadn’t switched, nearly a third (27%) said that their insurer was the cheapest last year so they believed they would be good value again this year, and 20% said that they wanted to be loyal to their current provider.
And when it came to shopping around for a policy, 23% said they went for the cheapest home insurance product, but 45% say they like to look more closely at their cover levels so they know what they are buying.
Ceri McMillan home insurance spokesperson for Go.Compare, said on the findings: “Home insurance has traditionally been a product that people are less inclined to switch – which is understandable given that it’s there to protect your home and all the belongings within it.
“But it is absolutely worth spending some time when your renewal comes through comparing prices and the levels of cover available. It means that you could get a better deal, and potentially a better insurance policy that does what you need it to do. What worked for your circumstances last year, may not work now.
“Also, we understand that due to the current economic situation, cost is a major factor for many, in fact a quarter of those we surveyed who have buildings or contents insurance are buying on price alone, yet it is still important to make sure that you are properly insured for the possible cost of both rebuilding your home and the loss of its contents, or you could lose out in the long run should the worst should happen.”
Ceri explained: “The whole point of an insurance policy is that it is there at a time of crisis. It is there when you need it the most to help you fix your home, and with the average contents insurance policy costing around £59*, getting the right home insurance policy is one of the best financial investments you could make and takes just minutes to organise using a comparison website.”
Home insurance cover is split into two parts - contents insurance and buildings cover. A home contents policy provides cover for possessions such as furniture, electrical items, jewellery and clothes. Buildings insurance then covers the structure of your property and its fixtures and fittings.
For more information about home contents and buildings insurance, please visit: https://www.gocompare.com/home-insurance/
-Ends-
Contact Information
Rosie Johns
Notes to editors
For further information please contact:
Lynsey Walden or Kath Chadwick at Go.Compare on lynsey.walden@gocompare.com or kathryn.chadwick@gocompare.com.
Keep up-to-date with Go.Compare on Twitter; @GoCompare
Notes to editors
*On 16th- 19th September 2022, a survey of 2091 randomly selected Great British adults was executed by Maru/Blue. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.1%. The results have been weighted by age, gender, region and social grade to match the population, according to Census data. This is to ensure the sample is representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
**Based on contents only policies taken out between Sept 2021 and Aug 2022 via Go.Compare (median average).
About Go.Compare
Go.Compare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.
It does not charge people to use its services and does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. Go.Compare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.
When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. It is this approach to comparing products that secured the company an invitation to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) in 2008, and it is still the only comparison site to be a member of this organisation.
Go.Compare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest and works with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.
Go.Compare is part of Future Plc and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
More information can be found here www.gocompare.com or here https://www.futureplc.com/brands/.