Low Income Households Have No Contents Insurance Cover
For many the cost of insurance is something that is exactly that – a cost – and it’s only when the unfortunate happens that they suffer and according to latest statistics it’s the people with the lowest incomes that omit to get cover.
We all kind of knew these figures before they were published but the latest home office statistics are showing that 50% of the lowest income households and 33% of people in social housing have no home contents insurance at all. Unfortunately there are 3 million people in social housing so that’s at least 1 million families without adequate cover.
The problems continue of course because these people are more likely to be burgled as well and the same survey finds that these people are twice as likely to be burgled – for them they have a 1 in 25 chance whereas the general population have a 1 in 50 chance of being burgled. These families are also 30 (that’s thirty) more times likely to suffer from an arson attack than people in more affulant areas and eight times more likely to be living on a flood plain so clearly from these statistics you would have thought someone would have laid down the facts that having home insurance is an essential purchase each year because they are more likely to claim because of their circumstances ?
Previously insurers have almost shunned these type of people and made the cost of insurance far out of their reach purely because they know the claimant count is going to be so high but new policies especially tenant policies have been developed so the cost is not so high as it was and still offers adequate cover.
In a tough economic economy it’s all too easy to overlook or discard the need for home insurance because often there are other essentials that have to be paid first but with the price comparison sites comparing the “whole of market” (in that they can get instant quotes from all the insurance companies in the UK) people can quickly find the right policy at the right price. And so long as it covers the essentials (such as if you are living in a high risk burglary area or are at risk of arson) then it’s going to be something that not only provides peace of mind but will cover you when things go wrong.
Certainly if the worst happens and you have a fire then you want cover to pay out and help you sort things out. Thieves really don’t care about hurting people as all they want are items they can quickly sell on and they will target any home that has easy access to the type of items they want. They will be in and out very quickly and if you have expensive electrical goods the cost of replacing them is going to be 10 times or even 20 times the cost of the insurance policy.
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