Can You Risk Not Buying Home Insurance?
As families struggle to save money, many are deciding not to buy home insurance. This though might be a short term gain that turns into a long term financial burden.
According to research by The Co-operative Insurance, nearly a fifth of UK adults don’t have home insurance. As a result they face the risk of having to bear the financial cost of burglaries or major mishaps.
They would have to pay out of their own pocket if their furniture, clothes, other valuable items or family heirlooms went up in flames, simply because they don’t have insurance.
And many families without insurance will soon be taking a summer holiday and leaving their homes empty for a week or more. Not only that many will make careless mistakes when it comes to securing their home.
The most common security risks people take when leaving homes unattended include
Taking a chance and not being insured is really not worth as over 10% of those uninsured have found out – they’ve had to fund average losses of £358 from burglaries, house fires, spills and breaks out of their own pocket.
As Lee Mooney, Head of Home Insurance at The Co-operative, comments: “The issue is that no one thinks they’re ever going to need insurance until something goes wrong, and in today’s economic climate it’s easy not to prioritise it.
“However, without it, you could be leaving your worldly goods open to damage or burglary and are risking paying out hundreds of pounds from your own pocket if something does happen.”
MoneyHighStreet comments: “Statistics from The Co-operative Insurance show that over a lifetime, 85% make at least one claim on their home insurance, indicating you really need to think very carefully about the risk of not buying home insurance.
“As families struggle to balance their finances and save money where they can, opting out of insurance appears to be an easy cost to get rid off. It really can be a case though of a short term gain that turns into a long term pain.
“Not only are you at risk from the opportunist burglar there are now burglars who steal brands to order.
“And as another thought, as at last we have some fantastic sunny weather to enjoy, if you’re about to enjoy a sizzling barbecue though, washed down with a few drinks, be careful you don’t end up causing major fire damage to your home as you try and cook whilst drunk!”