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10 Things To Remember To Avoid Home Thefts.

June 25th, 2009

Below are 10 practices to use to avoid becoming a victim of home theft.

1. Lock the windows.
Make sure all of your windows are locked as you are leaving your home.

2. Lock the doors.
Make sure all of your doors are locked as you are leaving your home.

3. Turn on the home security alarm.
Ensure that your alarm is turned on as you leave your home (if you have an alarm).

4. Use a visual or audio deterrent.
At night, leave on a light, radio or TV for background noise to deter prying thieves from entering your home.

5. Park your car visibly.
Have a parked car in your driveway to deter prying thieves by giving the impression that someone is home.

6. Have your keys
Ensure that when you are leaving the house, that there are no keys left in the door.

7. Hide your spare key well.
Be security savvy. Don’t leave your spare key in an obvious place where people may find it.

8. Be aware of your living environment.
Ask neighbours to look out for any unusual neighbourhood activity. Participating in a neighbourhood watch scheme is ideal for the local community to look out for each other.

9. Secure your belongings.
You can improve your home contents security by storing your items in a shed, by having a security fence or having a secure chain.

10. Don’t tempt thieves.
Don’t place valuable items such as laptops, TV’s, camera’s and money in plain view plain sight for the public to see.

Image credit: Country_boy_shane

Tags: Advice, Advice for Tenants, Garden, Home Security, Theft, Tips
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Caution For Homeowners As Garden Thefts Expected To Rise This Summer.

June 16th, 2009

HomeQuoteDirect would like to caution homeowners about the growing threat that they face this summer with garden theft. HomeQuoteDirect would like to ask that homeowners be vigilant this summer with securing their shed and garden items.

Garden theft is a growing problem in the UK. The threat of garden theft is highest between March and August. This summer, it is expected that 3 million Britons will fall victim to garden theft. Unfortunately, many Britons purchase tools and other garden items of value and do nothing to protect their goods from being vulnerable to garden theft.

A common misconception amongst Britons is that they don’t expect to be a victim of theft, as well as being prone to other damage such as vandalism or weathering damage. Some of the most notorious areas for garden theft in the UK are in the north of the UK.

Not all household policies cover garden loss, damage or theft. It is up to the individual to check with their broker to ensure that you have adequate cover for your garden tools, equipment and stored items. HomeQuoteDirect also provides household insurance policies that adequately cover your garden against loss, theft or damage.

Some types of theft and damage that is common include:

•    Garden stripping – whereby people (particularly rogue landscapers) steal and resell plundered assets to unsuspecting clients. Cases can be so extreme that people have returned home to find their entire garden and furnishings removed.
•    Garden property vandalism – People damaging the contents within your garden.
•    Shed contents theft – Whereby people break-in to steal valuable items. (Usually bikes or power tools.)

Common items that are targeted include:

•    Barbecues
•    Bicycles
•    Power tools
•    Garden ornaments (such as garden gnomes)
•    Lawn
•    Furniture

Some precautionary measures that homeowners can take during this summer include:
•    Installing security lighting in your garden to deter thieves.
•    Installing a sensor alarm to alert neighbours or authorities against trespassers.
•    Use a pen or engrave identification onto your valuable goods in case of theft.
•    Improve the secure latching on your shed or valuable items.

It would be ideal to take out a policy on your garden contents. Typically, garden policies will cover:
•    Theft
•    Fire
•    Storm/flood damage
•    Malicious damage
•    Accidental damage
•    Damage by wild animals
•    Branches

You can get with a from HomeQuoteDirect’s household insurance policy will usually provide you with basic garden cover, however you may need to adjust your cover to specific items that is in your garden. The basic garden policy can cover you for up to 15% of your value. Click here to get a quote on household insurance from HomeQuoteDirect.

Image credit : rainvt

Tags: Advice for Tenants, Contents Insurance, Garden, Garden Insurance, Home Insurance
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Top Tips for Home Insurance

May 28th, 2009

Do you need to reduce your home insurance premium? Take a peek at our top tips below!

Shop around
- Make sure you get a number of quotes to make sure you’re not paying more than you should be.
- Don’t accept the first quote you get; and don’t think you have to get your home insurance from your mortgage lender – you’re not obliged to!
- Using a site like HomeQuoteDirect enables you to shop around quickly and easily, as you get a number of quotes from different insurers and there’s only one form to fill in!

Only Pay for the Cover You Need
- For buildings insurance you only need to insure your property for the cost to rebuild – not the market value. There can be a vast difference!
- Similarly for contents insurance – only insure up to the value of your possessions and be as accurate as you can be.

Limit the Risk
- If insurers perceive your home to be less of a risk, then the cost of your home insurance is likely to reduce –
  - Consider installing smoke alarms and fire extinguishers to reduce the risk of fire damage
  - Make sure your home is as secure as possible – consider by installing a NACOSS or SSAIB approved alarm system; fit deadlocks to doors etc

Don’t Make Unnecessary Claims
- Think before you claim – many companies now incorporate no claims bonuses into their home insurance (just like they do for car insurance). You may find that it’s works out cheaper to pay for any repairs yourself than suffer a rise in your home insurance premium

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Tags: Advice, Contents Insurance, Home Insurance, Insurance for Renters, Saving Money, Tips
Posted in Contents Insurance, Home Insurance | No Comments »

Home Contents And Personal Possessions Insurance.

May 8th, 2009

Students that find themselves living away from home during their times of studies often find themselves living in student residences. These are often in student halls of residence or shared accommodation off campus.

Living in these student dwellings usually open the first time student to the responsibilities of being independent and accepting the rewards and risks that come with being away from the family home. Unfortunately, some of those risks involve further risks against your own belongings.

Students should consider purchasing student insurance if they decide to live in a residence away from home to study. Student insurance is a type of insurance policy that will cover the cost of the goods that is owned by the student within their studying residence.

The student home contents and personal possessions insurance policy can cover the contents for a student living away from home either on or off campus. The student is responsible for their own personal belongings and to insure their items are adequately covered against theft, accidental damage and break-ins.

Insuring your belongings whilst you are away from your home can prove invaluable in the case that damage, theft or break-in occurs. Furthermore, policies may also protect the person over a short period of time whilst they are away from their student residence. (Typically over holiday season.)

The following items should be considered for protection when taking out student insurance.

1.    Consumer electronics
2.    Money
3.    Jewelery
4.    Personal Documents

The common items tht are often of high value and should be considered for taking out a policy include:

Electronic goods – these usually hold a high value, making them an ideal theft target. By insuring the electronic goods, you will have a degree of protection for replacing those goods if they are subject to theft, damage or break-ins.

Desktops and Laptop computers
Computers are a popular target for thieves. Laptops are a high value target for theft in a university residence, as they are often valuable and the replacement cost is usually expensive.

Mobile Phones
Mobile phones are also another popular item that is subject to theft in student residences due to their value.
MP3/4 players
Portable players are also another popular item which is usually subject to theft or loss.

Money
If there is money that is within the residence, most policies will cover this up to a certain amount.

Jewelery
Jewelery is typically a popular theft item due to its high value. You should insure valuable items and specify them in your policy.

Personal documents.
Loss of documents such as passports and bank statements can prove costly if lost or stolen. Identity theft is on the increase and the insurance policy can also cover you against this type of theft.

Students can take advantage of the student insurance provided by HomeQuoteDirect to start protecting their belongings when living away from home. Click student insurance to find a policy the right policy for your student residential needs.

Image credit ndawg

Tags: Contents Insurance, Home Insurance, Insurance for Renters, Possessions Insurance, students insurance
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Top Tips to Save Money on Your Home Insurance

April 21st, 2009

Ultimately, when purchasing home insurance, the price you pay will depend on your circumstances (i.e. where your property is situated, your claims history) and the amount of cover you need. It’s also really important that you do not compromise on your home insurance cover just to get a cheaper premium - if the worst happens, you don’t want to find that you’re not covered.

That said, there are a number of ways to save money on your home insurance premium, and within this post we’ll take a look at some of these:

All home insurers provide quotes based on the ‘risk’. Essentially this means they evaluate the likelihood of you making a claim. You can therefore reduce your home insurance premiums by presenting yourself to the insurer as lower risk - examples of how to do this are detailed below:

Reduce the risk of burglary - increased security measures reduce your risk of burglary, and insurers will respond by reducing the cost of your premium, examples include: fitting a burglar alarm, installing high security locks, lighting and so on.
Reduce the risk of fire - fit and maintain smoke alarms.
Increase your policy excess - your excess is the amount that you are willing pay in the event of a claim. If you increase your excess your home insurance premium will be reduced accordingly.
Don’t claim unless you really have to - as with car insurance, many home insurance providers are now also offering no claims discounts for ‘careful’ policy holders (i.e. those who do not make claims). Now clearly there are circumstances under which you may have no choice other than to claim, however we would recommend that you consider the potential increase in premiums prior to claiming; and weigh up the pros and cons. Ultimately, you may find that it’s cheaper to pay for small repairs yourself, rather than claiming on your insurance.

Pay only for the Insurance Cover you need…

This may sounds obvious, but make sure that you are only paying for the cover you need. For example, if your are renting a property, you will only need to pay for contents insurance, as your landlord will be responsible for ensuring that the building is covered.

Similarly, if you live in a block of flats or other dwelling where you do not own the entire building, again you may find that the buildings insurance is covered within any service charges which you pay.

Finally, even if you do own the whole building, your buildings insurance policy should only cover you for the potential re-build cost; not the total market value of your property.

Shop around for the best deal…

Make sure you shop around. Many people make the mistake of simply renewing their home insurance with their existing provider without checking out the other deals which are available on the market.

It’s really important to shop around to make sure you get the very best deal on your home insurance. Ideally, you should get a variety of quotes. HomeQuoteDirect is an independent broker, and as such will search their panel of insurers in order to get the very best deal for you. Click here to get a great deal on your home insurance.

Image credit voobie

Tags: Advice, Home Insurance, Saving Money, Tips
Posted in Home Insurance, Saving Money | No Comments »

Home Insurance Advice for Tenants

April 17th, 2009

If you are renting a property, as a tenant, what sort of insurance do you need?

If you are renting a property, be it from a private landlord or from a council or local authority, you are not responsible for insuring the building itself. This is the responsibility of whoever owns the building.

Your landlord or council / local authority will have taken out buildings insurance which covers any damage to the structure and fabric of the building. Therefore, in the event of a fire, the buildings insurance will cover the cost of any remedial works.

However, you should be aware, that as a tenant, the buildings insurance does not cover any of your personal property.

As such, in the event of a fire, if your belongings were damaged or destroyed you are not covered under the owner of the property’s buildings insurance. Similarly, should the property which you rent be broken into, and your belongings stolen, again you are not covered under the buildings insurance.

As such, if you are renting you should really consider home insurance to protect your belongings in the event of a fire, flood, theft etc.

You do not need to get buildings insurance as that will be covered by the owner of the property, you simply need an insurance policy to protect your belongings. This is called contents insurance.

colourful-houses

Contents Insurance Advice for Tenants

Most importantly, we would advise tenants to ensure that they select their insurance carefully and ensure that they choose a policy which provides adequate cover for all of their possessions (including furniture, TVs, stereos, computers, clothing, valuables, household appliances etc).

If you rent a furnished or part-furnished property bear in mind that you may also be responsible for loss or damage to these items whilst you are living in the property. Check your tenancy agreement to see if you are liable - if so, make sure that these items are also covered under your contents insurance.

If you own something particularly valuable you may need to get extra cover. Remember, it’s far better to take the time to check that you are adequately covered at the time of taking out the policy, rather than finding out that you don’t have sufficient cover when you need to make a claim.

Finally, make sure you keep your insurer appraised of any changes - for example - if you move, make sure you let your insurance provider know so they can make any necessary amends to your policy. Similarly, if you purchase anything new - e.g. a new TV, make sure that your existing policy still offers adequate cover.

The Citizens Advice Bureau have produced an excellent guide to Contents Insurance - click here to read more.

Click here to get a quote for your contents insurance from HomeQuoteDirect.

Image credit jakeliefer

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Tags: Advice for Tenants, Contents Insurance, Home Insurance, Insurance for Renters, Tenants Insurance
Posted in Advice for Tenants, Contents Insurance, Home Insurance | No Comments »

10 Things To Remember To Avoid Home Thefts.

Caution For Homeowners As Garden Thefts Expected To Rise This Summer.

Top Tips for Home Insurance

Do you need to reduce your home insurance premium? Take a peek at our top tips below!

Home Contents And Personal Possessions Insurance.

Top Tips to Save Money on Your Home Insurance

Home Insurance Advice for Tenants

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