Home Contents Underinsured By Millions Of Households

Nearly seven million households have insufficient contents insurance cover, according to Direct Line.

A large number of households in the UK are underinsured with over £200 billion of contents at risk as a result, Direct Line has discovered.

Those without sufficient home contents insurance are underinsured by an average of £20,000, however householders may be cutting back on contents cover because of personal finance contraints under the difficult economic conditions, as Andrew Morrell, head of home insurance at Direct Line points out:

“There is no doubt that recession-hit Brits have a lot on their minds at the moment – but the importance of home contents insurance shouldn’t be underestimated.”

As the average household contains £4,000 of furniture, £1,800 of jewellery and £2000 worth of clothes, plus other items such as electrical, garden items and soft furnishing, it is important to not place posessions at risk should the worst happen, as Morrell advises:

“No-one wants to think about the prospect of losing all their possessions. Unfortunately it is far too easy to turn a blind eye to the true value of your home’s contents and grossly underestimate the level at which your insurance should be set – thereby putting your belongings at risk.”

The research also found that many people do not realise that the amounts of contents cover on their home insurance needs to be re-assessed if they inherit possessions such as valuable heirlooms and antiques.