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Archive for February, 2011

Security scam alert

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

With the prospect of fewer policemen patrolling the streets of the UK once the regional police forces make their enforced cuts in job numbers, household insurance and home security are going to be high on the list of homeowner’s priorities.

Despite the number of jobs going, Home Secretary Theresa May says the number of front line police officers should not be affected, but homeowners across the country are already making their own provisions on security upgrades. It also seems that as usual, unscrupulous traders are trying to benefit from the situation.

Beware of geeks offering gifts

The switchboard at Surrey Police headquarters has been lighting up with members of the public reporting a scam and Trading Officers in the County have also been alerted. Apparently members of the public are being plagued by a firm asking them to do a survey, which involves technical information about products they are keen to sell; they then finish the phone call by telling them they have qualified for a free burglar alarm.

The scam is one that has been tried in various areas of the country and homeowners should be wary of anyone cold calling and offering free gifts. In this case the burglar alarm is indeed free, however, installation costs £300 and the sales pitch involves home owners signing a maintenance contract that could well cost them £5,000. The well versed conmen will tell the poor homeowner that he will save that much in reduced home contents insurance due to his improved security.

Ask a friend

Obviously home security is all important and should not be skimped upon, but your local police force will put you in touch with a crime prevention officer who can give you independent advice on security devices and systems. A search on the internet or your local yellow pages will give a list of local companies who provide security services and failing that there is bound to be a neighbour with a security system installed. Ask them about theirs and who installed it, word of mouth usually finds a good tradesman. Security alarms can now be bought from DIY stores such as Homebase and B&Q and you can save a lot of cash if you can install a system yourself.

Tags: Home Insurance, Security scam alert
Posted in Home Security | No Comments »

Heating the home

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

With inflation rising and the impact of the austerity cuts imposed by the Government still to fully bear down on the wealth of the nation, the general public can hardly be blamed for getting cold feet about planning any major expenditure. For those moving into a new home, however, there is little choice, necessities such as heating systems, household insurance and council tax must be sorted out quickly.

Fuelling inflation

The aforementioned inflation figures are to a great degree being driven by the spiralling cost of fuel. Most Britons associate the cost of fuel with motoring but in fact expensive fuel prices usually mean expensive heating bills and this affects even more people than does the price of petrol. It is important therefore for homeowners moving into a new home to select the right type of heating.

Which system?

Gas central heating systems are by far the most popular choice of heating for most Britons, but it is not every house that is connected to gas, and for the millions that are not the choice of fuel is definitely more of a complication. Central heating of any kind is welcomed by the majority of homeowners in the UK, as our cold winters mean the entire house needs some sort of heat to make it comfortable. Central heating systems are available in solid fuel, electric and of course oil.

Home insurance claims drop

Nothing looks better than an old fashioned fire place or wood burner and of course an open flame still evokes in many of us warm memories of a childhood where we sat in front of a fire to get warm and even toasted bread there. This no longer happens because open fires are few and far between. It is no coincidence either that home insurance claims have dropped as the number of open fires has diminished in the UK. For all their homely beauty, open fires were the cause of numerous disasters in homes and the cause of many deaths.

Oil central heating is the preferred choice of many but the escalating price of oil at the moment will be enough to put off most people from installing such a system at this time. The cost of benzene, the fuel used in oil central heating, has risen so much this winter that it is actually being investigated by a Government committee this week.

Electric heating has for many years been frowned upon by the general public in the UK because of its expense and the lack of any real aesthetic quality of electric heaters. Both of these problems have now been addressed and systems from countries such as Germany and Sweden which use tiles instead of bricks to store heat, inside radiators which look very much like those used in Gas Central Heating systems, have made them attractive to consumers. These systems make temperature control easier, energy output more controlled and they look much better than the old bulky storage heaters that put many people off choosing electric heating.

Tags: heating, Home Insurance, household insurance, wealth of the nation
Posted in Advice for Tenants, Contents Insurance, Home Insurance | No Comments »

Solar panel scheme looking decidedly shady?

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

Homeowners looking to subsidise their household expenses such as energy costs and household insurance bills by installing solar panels may well have to get a move on if they want to get the most benefit from Government grants.

It is no secret that the Government has been keen to launch a comprehensive alternative fuel programme and that solar heating via solar panels is viewed as the star attraction. Homeowners across the UK have been invited to enquire about their home’s suitability for a matching set of solar panels on their roof. The big incentive is the 40+ pence per unit generated that the Government is prepared to pay any generator of alternative energy.

Who can benefit from the subsidies?

Of course the incentive has alerted entrepreneurs looking to make a fast buck on any scheme that offers subsidies especially as Government subsidies are known to be lucrative the world over. Suffice it to say many solar energy companies quickly realised the subsidies on offer can be enormous if a full field of solar panels is switched on and the energy generated attracts the feed-in tariff. Cornwall Council has been inundated by companies asking for planning permission to cover fields with solar panels and have already granted five.

Why Cornwall?

The county is the most westerly and southerly county in the UK and has more hours of sunlight than any other county, thus making it ideal for solar energy generation. Many independent homeowners have also enquired about situating the panels on their own homes but are finding the initial outlay prohibitive. With firms quoting in excess of £20,000 to install the systems plus the possibility of having to find cash to pay for roof strengthening and extra home insurance on their buildings cover many households are now thinking twice about investing in the panels.

This has left the way clear for the bigger players to set up their solar farms and get ready to clean up on the profit front. The Government are now getting worried that the original idea for small and medium projects to benefit from the subsidies is going to be shunted to one side by the bigger companies. They have announced a review of the feed-in tariff already and experts think that by midsummer the rates may well be lowered, leaving some investors out of pocket.

Tags: Solar panel scheme
Posted in Home Insurance, Saving Money | No Comments »

Am I covered against that?

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

The problems in Egypt at the moment may seem light years away to those of us living in the UK but it does once more illustrate the value of home insurance. In fact the situation brings into question just how you would manage without insurance of any kind?

The newspapers and TV pictures are reporting daily on the throngs of people parading up and down Tahrir Square in the middle of Cairo, whilst behind the scenes families try to maintain normal life. After all, bills still have to paid, mouths have to be fed and work has to be done.

All of this is not so easy when parents have to stand guard outside their properties all night to prevent looters making away with their household goods. It becomes difficult to take children to school and therefore almost impossible for adults to go to work. No-one can consider leaving their children at such a time.

One or two ex-pats have been on TV describing the worrying scenes and at the same time telling how difficult it is to get back to the safety of the UK.

It couldn’t happen in the UK, could it?

Oh yes it could! We may think that events we watch from a corner of our living rooms can’t happen here, but you can never be sure, just look at the damage caused by the recent student protests in London. One thing you can be sure about though is that even the most basic of home contents insurance policies will cover the owner’s goods against theft.

All the events that you watch on TV and think “It couldn’t happen here” are routinely built into insurance policies. For instance, earthquakes, riots, explosions, tsunami’s, looting, in fact anything that would appear to be a disaster that just could not happen in the green fields of England, you have actually covered yourself from the financial implications of, when you bought your home owner insurance.

How much of my home insurance is spent on this type of cover?

Although the majority of policies offer such cover, policy providers, just like you and I, consider the risk small, however, any risk is significant. So the fact is it does not cost you much at all. Perhaps a better question would be, can I afford not to have such cover?

Tags: Egypt Protest, Home Insurance, Looting, Protests, Rioting, Student Protest
Posted in Home Insurance | No Comments »

Cheap insurance tipped to be at a premium in 2011

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

Just a couple of weeks after upsetting the country’s motorists by reporting the biggest increases in car insurance for a decade, the AA have now decided to equal things up a little by telling those who take out household insurance that they are the next in line for a big shock. Of course for most of us it is a double whammy, the great majority of people in the UK have both car and home insurance.

It’s not fair either to blame the AA. They are just reporting the collated facts from their insurance index. According to them insurers are paying out nearly 25% more than they take in at the moment and though there is no reason to believe that fraudulent claims on home contents insurance is accelerating at the same rate as those in motor insurance, it obviously does have some bearing on the price of premiums today. No industry can sit back and take such high losses.

Do other countries pay so much for home insurance?

The UK insurance market is not alone in this. A report in the Republic of Ireland recently said that insurance brokers over there plan to increase home premiums by 15%, raise excess charges to as much as 1,000 Euros and offer less cover in the average policy. This at a time when the Republic’s finances are in melt down. The new budget measures imposed to bring the country away from the abyss of bankruptcy has reduced the income of virtually every home in the country and must leave many citizens wondering if they can go to the expense of purchasing cheap home insurance even if they can get it.

Switching back to the UK it is easy to see the predicament of insurance companies when the insurer’s national body estimates that at the moment insurance companies as a whole are paying out £7 million a day in claims for burst pipes relating back to the period before Christmas. Of course on top of that there have been floods and the usual surge in claims associated with the Christmas season.

Anything we can do?

It seems certain that price hikes in premiums are set to stay with us in the short term and consumers are well advised to look round and investigate what they can achieve in the way of discounts by checking home insurance comparison websites.

Tags: Cheap insurance, Home Insurance
Posted in Home Insurance | No Comments »