Monday, July 16, 2012

Home Insurance Apathy Costs Brits £700 Million a Year - MarketWatch (press release)

CHESTER, England, July 16, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Brits could save £125* a year each shopping around for home insurance

Welsh and Scots most apathetic about getting a better deal

Brits are wasting £687 million a year, or an average £125 per household, by sticking with their existing home insurance provider, according to MoneySupermarket.com.[1]

Research by the UK's number one comparison site found nearly a third of those with home insurance (29 per cent) automatically renew their home insurance with their existing insurer rather than shopping around to find a better deal. Of those loyal customers, seven per cent don't think they can find a better deal, and a further eight per cent are missing out on savings as they can't be bothered to shop around. Another 13 per cent automatically renew with their current insurer because they are happy with them. The Welsh and Scots are the most apathetic; a third (33 per cent) automatically renew with their current provider.

The research also revealed Brits stay with their home insurer for two and a half years on average. Almost half of respondents (48 per cent) have been with the same insurer for over two years, and nine per cent have been with the same insurer - sacrificing potential savings - for a whopping ten years or more.

Hannah Mercedes-Skenfield, insurance spokesperson at MoneySupermarket.com, said: "Insurance apathy rules in UK homes. Having the choice to automatically renew your home insurance is an appealing option for time-poor homeowners - but ask yourself, is it worth paying such a hefty price for the convenience? Shopping around for the best deal is quick and easy, but by not doing so, consumers effectively watch their hard earned cash go down the drain; how many of us would really say no to £125?

"While mortgage providers insist homeowners have adequate buildings insurance, it makes financial sense for every household to have combined buildings and contents insurance in place. Combined policies tend to offer the best value as well as providing comprehensive cover for your home and garden against problems such as subsidence, burst pipes, and personal liability, all of which could land you with a bill for thousands of pounds. This is in addition to more common incidents such as burglary, accidental damage or loss of possessions away from the home. Without having cover in place you could end up having to foot a very expensive bill."

Notes to Editors:

[1] Opinium Research carried out an online poll of 2,298 UK adults from 20th - 23rd April 2012. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria.

29 per cent of those with contents or buildings insurance surveyed automatically renew their home insurance (128+146+241= 515/1795(responsible) = 29% or 515/2298(total sample) = 22.41%

515/2298 =22.41% (total UK Adult sample) = 22.41% of UK Adult population over 18 = 49,969,000*22.41% = 11,198,449.

UK Households = 24.5 million (ONS) Only one person in household in theory is responsible for home insurance, so 24.5 million * 22.41% = loyal customers homes = 5,490,450 * £125.14 = 687,074,913 or £687 million

                                      Home Insurance - based on independent                       Average Annual              online research by Consumer Intelligence during                Saving              1st May - 31st May 2012                                       GBP125.14                          

MoneySupermarket.com compares (at 20th June 2012)

100 car insurance providers and 81 home insurance providers

12 broadband providers and 18 energy providers

32 unsecured loan and 6 secured loan providers

58 mortgage lenders and 28 credit card providers

67 savings providers and 37 current account providers.

Over 1,700,000 mobile phone deals

Our customers

We help our customers to save money on all of their household bills by providing a free, easy to use online service so they can compare a wide range of products in one place and find the product most suited to their needs. Our size means we are able to offer our customers exclusive, market-leading deals, including some they can't even get direct from providers.

Our providers

By having considerable volumes of informed customers actively looking for products and ready to purchase, we offer our providers an efficient and cost effective customer acquisition solution across all of our channels. This enables our providers to target their marketing spend in an effective and completely measurable way.

Our revenue comes predominantly from fees paid to us by product providers when a customer clicks through to their website and actually applies for or purchases a product. It is a success based marketing fee.

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We make it easy to find the brands you expect to see

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For further information, please contact: Nicki Parry PR Officer +44(0)1244-370-318 nicola.parry@moneysupermarket.com

SOURCE moneysupermarket.com

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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