One in five have no home insurance

Wednesday, 23 January 2008 12:00

A fifth of homeowners do not have buildings insurance and a quarter do not know what their polices cover, according to new research.

A poll by Nationwide reveals, despite last summer's floods causing an upturn in the number of people buying home insurance, many still have no protection.

Of those who do have building insurance, 25 per cent do not know what their policies cover, meaning they are at risk of being underinsured.

Some 14 per cent of people admit to having no contents insurance - despite the majority of household valuing their contents at between £10,000 and £20,000.

Seventy per cent of those with home insurance do not know how much their policies cover.

Nationwide's insurance director, Robin Bailey, said: "It is surprising that so many people are prepared to take such a gamble on their homes and personal belongings when you consider how much time and money we all invest in our homes.

"You never know what is around the corner and for that reason it is vital that people are prepared by having adequate insurance."

Ensuring contents insurance covers the full value of possessions is particularly important after Christmas - as expensive new electrical items, such as wide screen TVs, can push the value of contents over the amount insured.

The danger of being underinsured is that the insurance company will not cover full losses in the event of a claim - even if the claim is for less than the full amount covered by a policy.

Insurance companies often take the line if contents are worth ten per cent over what the policy protects, then only 90 per cent of any claim will be met, whatever the size of the claim.

Across the country, people in the north-east are least likely to have buildings insurance and Londoners are least likely to have contents insurance.

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