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Home insurance at Christmas

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Home insurance at Christmas

Spending your hard earned cash is easily done in the festive season, but you could find yourself spending a lot more that you bargained for. According to Home Office statistics, burglaries increase between October and January. An unfortunate visit from burglar bill on Christmas Eve, or a rogue spark from a log fire or faulty fairy lights could leave you high and dry. Taking the right financial precautions will save a great deal of heartache and help to reduce your home insurance costs.

Don't be underinsured

Don’t be caught out and find out too late that you are under-insured for the contents in your home. Many home insurers will automatically increase your home contents cover over the holiday period at no extra charge to allow for the extra presents, food and drink filling the house.

Check whether your insurer offers this benefit and remember that the terms and conditions vary from insurer to insurer.
Check too how long the increase in cover lasts for.
After the Christmas rush, you should update your contents insurance to include any new, high-value gifts (eg major electrical item or jewellery). If the value is over £1,000, you may need to insure these items separately. Either way, your insurer could refuse to pay out if you haven’t updated your policy to reflect your new acquisitions.
Finally, check whether your insurer has a 24-hour helpline open 365 days of the year in case disaster should strike.

Top Christmas safety tips

Avoid accidental damage:

Don’t leave candles burning unattended.
Avoid leaving TV and stereos on standby. A small electrical fault can and regularly does start an unforgiving blaze.
Make sure Christmas lights are safe:
o Check they conform to British Safety Standards. BS kitemark
o Inspect cables and bulbs for damage. Dispose of faulty ones. If your fairy lights are old, replace them.
o Don’t leave lamps on in an empty room or if you are going out.
o Don’t allow flexes to trail and don’t hide them under a carpet.
If you are going away over Christmas, leave the trap door into the roof open. This will help prevent pipes from freezing and bursting!
Make sure your policy covers potential damage to or loss of a freezer full of food.

Beating the Christmas burglars:

Alarms act as a deterrent to burglars. Insurers usually favour NACOSS approved alarms systems.
Lock all windows and doors securely. Mortice deadlocks and rimlocks conforming to British Standard 3621 will reduce your premiums by up to 10%.
Keep Christmas presents out of sight of potential thieves.
Close curtains in the evenings.
Dispose of boxes and wrappings carefully; they act as an advert to burglars for goods inside the house
If you are going away, cancel milk and newspapers and ask a neighbour to remove your post and keep an eye on your property. Failure to take these small steps simply tells burglars that the house is unoccupied. Inform your insurer if you are going to be away for a long period of time.
Leave main lights and a radio on if you are out during an evening (small lamps may present a safety issue). Invest in a timer switch if you are going away.
Mark all your property of value and take note of serial numbers. This can help recover stolen goods.
Keep all outbuildings, garages and sheds securely locked up with a heavy- duty padlock.

Insurers that automatically offer a free seasonal increase on the sum insured - Christmas 2005

Esure: 15% increase from 1st December to 15th January.
Tesco’s: automatic 10% increase from 1st December to 15th January.
Churchill: 10% increase from 1st December to 15th January.
Budget: 10% increase from 1st December to 31st December
Norwich Union Direct: increase of £3,000 for Christmas presents and food from 1st December to 31st December.
More Than: 10% increase from 1st December to 31st December.
Direct Line: 10% increase for Christmas goods from 1st December to 31st December.
Virgin: 10% increase from 1st December to 15th January.
Zurich: sum insured increased by £3,000 from 1st December to 31st December.
Saga: automatic increase of cover by 10% over Christmas period from 1st December to 31st December.
Halifax: No seasonal increase. Standard policy has unlimited cover on Christmas items. (This does not include certain single items and high value items – check the policy wording).
Barclays: No seasonal increase. Standard contents policy offers up to £50,000 of cover.
Hiscox: Within their claims handling policy Hiscox allows a sum insured increase of up to 25% for a period of 60 days per annum, which covers you for other events such as weddings as well as Christmas. This does not affect the premium you pay.