Britons are receiving far less than they claim for on insurance
Insurance payments fall £1.2bn short
Monday, 10 Apr 2006 12:18
Insurance payouts fall £1.2 billion short of the amount that is claimed for each year.
New figures from MoneyExpert.com reveal that some 5.74 million people were not paid the full amount they claimed for on home insurance policies, while over 5.07 million car insurance claims were not met in full - even after taking the policy excesses into account.
The average shortfall on home insurance in the last five years has been £627, while car insurance customers have missed out on an average of £537 a year.
This means that home insurance customers are receiving £3.59 billion less than they asked for and motorists are missing some £2.72 billion from claims made on motor policies.
"The fact that around £1.2 billion a year is being cut from motor and home insurance claims is staggering. Customers rely on insurance to pay out when problems happen and it must be very painful financially not to receive the full amount claimed," said Tim Berry, a director at MoneyExpert.com.
"However, it is not necessarily the insurer’s fault if a claim is not settled in full. Customers need to be careful when taking out insurance that they choose a policy which provides the right level of cover.
"Many people focus purely on the price of their insurance when they buy. That can be a false economy if the policy does not pay out enough when they need it. Taking some time to establish the level of cover you need as well as exactly what you are covered for and what you are not covered for is a worthwhile investment.
"We would urge customers to look as carefully at the quality of the cover on offer as the price when they take out home or motor cover."
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