APH News

It has been announced by a major provide of emergency home insurance cover that they are suspending outbound sales calls amidst numerous accusations that their staff are actively mis-selling policies. This is not the first time such a product has hit the headlines as a result of a lot of controversy. Emergency forms of home cover have caused this sort of  outcry before. The reason for it doesn’t necessarily lie in the technique of the sales advisor though, although some of them are very pushy and difficult to get rid of without being rude. Instead, it often actually lies in the fact that people never actually think about emergency cover and then, when they have second thoughts, they feel that they do not need it. In fact, emergency home insurance cover is actually a very useful product .

Emergency home insurance is marketed by a variety of companies, some of whom are insurers and others who are not. For the most part, the cover offers protection in the event that you need a plumber, electrician, boiler expert or any other tradesman out in the event of an emergency. Most guarantee someone out to you within 8 hours at the most.

You should always check your actual home insurance policy to see what you are covered or though before you take out extras like this type of policy because you may already have some sort of cover in place. If that is the case then you will not need an extra emergency home insurance policy at all. However, many policies do not offer emergency access to tradesmen or emergency repairs for either no extra cost or a small excess. If your policy is one of them then you may want to look into getting an emergency form of cover just in case. You never know what is around the corner and with winter now nearly upon us, you have peace of mind that you need not sit in the dark, cold or wet without having someone to call on in a very short period of time.

Life is hectic for many people at the moment with so many events upcoming and winter well and truly on the way. Bonfire Night, dark evenings and fireworks are an excellent combination for those families looking to celebrate in the coming couple of weekends but it is also an excellent combination for another group of people – the burglars. It is a fact that more houses are broken into when the nights draw in and with the clocks going back this weekend, it is no wonder that numerous experts are beginning to write their words of warning. If you do not have home insurance then now is the time to get it, but what do you need to look for either in an existing home insurance policy or a new one?

Well, first things first, you need to make sure that you have the level of the cover you need to cover all of your possessions. If you have £25,000 of stuff, for example, then £10,000 cover is just not going to cut it. You need to add up the cost of all of your possessions and get enough cover to protect them all. You also need to check the type of cover you have. More and more home insurance companies are offering new for old cover, meaning that they will replace your belongings themselves with like for like. You need to check this before taking out cover.

You also need to check to see whether you have buildings insurance if you own your own home. After all, a firework may not go through everyone’s window this Guy Fawkes night but it is worth thinking of every situation and covering them all with your home insurance. You need to make sure that accidents are covered and you can get your home fixed just in case.

Having home insurance is always a good idea for peace of mind these days. Whether you live in a low crime area or a high crime area, it is always worth exploring home insurance policies to ensure that you can replace your belongings should they get stolen whilst you are out. However, most insurance companies actually limit their involvement at protecting your property. The rest is up to you. As long as you have answered those companies’ questions honestly then they will support you from afar. Not so one lesser known home insurer. Instead, this particular company has offered pointers for preventing break ins so that you do not have to claim on your home insurance and they are certainly worth taking notice of whether you are with that insurer or not.

First of all, the insurer makes the point that it is best to use a timer or leave lights on when you are away from home to make sure that it looks like someone is there. If burglars think that someone is home then they are far less likely to try and break in. In addition, it is advised that you should explore the idea of locking doors as soon as it gets dark as well as drawing curtains and keeping valuables out of sight. Finally, be sure to use your burglar alarm and invest in good quality locks. Of course, the questions you answer when taking out home insurance should tell you that!

There is no doubt that burglaries and other related crimes do go up when the clocks go back and the whole country gets a lot darker a lot earlier. It seems to be the opportunity that some criminals look for to make their money. Do not let them. Take all measures to protect yourself and you may never have to make a claim on account of the actions of others!

We all know how unpredictable the weather has been in recent years in all areas of the UK. With storms apparently occurring at all times of the year, flooding being reported irregularly up and down the country and adverse weather conditions being quite prevalent everywhere but in Manchester at the end of last year, it is no wonder that many people are considering how to batten down the hatches this year. How can you protect your home without needing to claim on your home insurance? Well, that largely depends on where you live apparently.

A recent survey found that home insurance claims had actually risen by a huge 68% in relation to storms, with lightening, snow, flooding and falling trees all hitting the top of the list of claims for insurers all over the UK but there are location specific rises that are worth noting. For example, if you live in Yorkshire then you are 143% more likely to have made a claim in relation to a flood than those in any other county, although storm claims from those in  Central Scotland are 117% more probable. Finally, Londoners are 47% more likely to have made a claim as a direct result of a falling tree.

Obviously the regularity and occurrence of such claims may not impact upon you directly but it is worth finding out about these statistics because they will not only potential put home insurance quotes up for your area but you may find that some policies offer insufficient protection for certain incidents. If your home is more likely to be impacted by flooding rather than falling trees then you should make sure that the cover in place is for the former rather than the latter. You can do this through the APH comparison engine. Just fill in your wants and needs and you can see exactly what is available for you.

With only two days left before the end of September (if you include today that is), most of the UK would be surprised to be enjoying the high temperatures that we have had of late. Don’t let the weather now fool you though because it is not a sign that we will have a milder winter than we had last year. In fact, many experts are already warning that we are likely to have more of the same this year. As such, now is the time to take a look at your home insurance to see whether you have the necessary protection in place to survive another winter of the extreme cold.

Think back to last year and any problems you may have had with the boiler, heating or maybe even the pipes. Is there anything you can do to prevent that again? For example, could you add insulation to the pipes to prevent them freezing and potentially flooding the house? You may even want to get an engineer in to service the boiler in advance. However, although there are steps that you can take within your house to protect it from the elements this winter, you may also want to consider checking out your home insurance.

For example, does your home insurance policy cover you for flooding or boiler damage? Does it cover burst pipes or offer an emergency call out package in addition to your general cover? All of these questions are definitely worth asking because they point to the level of protection and indeed peace of mind that you can have. You need to make sure that your home and property is protected in every eventuality this winter to either avoid claiming where possible and then get the right payout should you have to. Shop around if you have not got the cover you need because your peace of mind is priceless.

I regularly browse through financial magazines and newspaper money sections to keep up with the news making waves in the home insurance industry. As such, I’ve noticed a marked difference in the tone of some of the reviews as of late. There seems to be a trend of complaining about poor service from certain companies that offer home insurance, and most notably the time it takes to settle claims. In some cases loss adjusters have been called in when there was no need to do so, thus wasting a lot of time and ensuring that some claims take up to 12 months to pay.  So how can you find out which home insurance companies offer the best service and don’t leave you in the lurch?

Well, reading some consumer reviews is the best place to start if you want to find a home insurance provider that suits you and provides the service you want. You should never assume that, just because a premium is more or less expensive, the service is correspondingly better or worse. Instead, you are better off seeing which offer the best service to all customers because you may well be surprised at the home insurance providers that have let their customers down of late.

Perhaps the best way to go about finding a home insurance provider to suit you is to get quotes from a comparison engine, like the one here at APH, and choose your three or five best policies based on what quote and policy offering you get. From there, do a little homework. It takes just a few minutes to check around to see what reputation the provider has and it is worth every single moment of your time. When you have finished the entire process, which should take no more than 15 to 20 minutes, your peace of mind will be worth it’s weight in gold.

Have you been on holiday this year? No? So are you going in the next few weeks? Really? That’s nice… The average conversation about your holiday plans goes a little something like this and is fine if you are talking to your family but there are some situations in which drawing away from the conversation may be a good idea if you want to keep your home insurance policy’s no claims bonus intact. Having said conversation on Facebook is definitely one of those situations. Social networking sites are the banes of home insurance companies existence and are placed alongside companies encouraging people to make personal injury claims in terms of annoyance.

Many people do not think that bragging about their two weeks in the Caribbean on Facebook will affect their home security. After all, which amongst your friends would burgle you? Well, actually, you’d be surprised about just how many opportunists there are out there but, unless your profile is completely private people can still see certain details. In addition, your friends accounts can also be hacked, and this is a favourite trick for burglars out there at the moment. They are often doing it so as to find out where empty houses can be found.

So what is the solution to the problem of social networking sites when you are on holiday? Well, it is simple really – do not under any circumstances tell the whole world that you are going on holiday on your Facebook page. Brag about it when you come back but keep it to yourself when you go away. You may also want to avoid logging in when you are away in case your location turns up on your page. There are new features that do that now. Just remain in control and you will find that your home insurance benefits from it!

After having recently moved house and found that our premiums have gone down a little, I started thinking about exactly how home insurance is calculated. Nobody knows exactly unless they write the algorithms on the computers that calculate and finalise individual quotes, but that is not to say that there are a few general pointers that offer you a guideline on how high or how low your home insurance premiums will be.

For example, home insurance companies will ask you whether you have a working alarm in your home. They very rarely actually ask you if you use it but the fact that you have one in your home indicates that it may be more secure than a home that does not have one. Furthermore, burglars are often put off breaking into certain homes if they have an alarm box on the front. The home insurance company may also ask you if you have further security systems in place because some homeowners are now having protection devices like CCTV put in place to deter potential burglars and vandals. This will also reduce your premiums.

Another thing that will help you to reduce your home insurance premiums is having dead bolts on the doors and locks on the windows. Failing to have either will increase your premiums significantly because they are easier to break into than those homes that do have these security features.

A final point that is taken into consideration is your postcode. If your local area has a high crime rate or has flooded in the past then you are likely to have to pay more. You can do nothing about these points but you may well be able to offset the extra costs by making sure that your home is as secure as possible. In addition to lower home insurance premiums, it will also give you that extra peace of mind.

Climate change has been debated for years now as experts, environmentalists and various other parties have tried to understand it, determine what it does and figure out whether or not it is a real entity or whether it is just a figment of the imagination. Although most people have now acknowledged that it exists, even if it is cyclical in nature as history has proven, many are still unaware of the problems that it can cause when it is truly examined. For example, a recent study has proved that it has an incredible impact on home insurance, believe it or not.

Climate change is essentially the changing of the temperature and weather conditions around the world, which explains why our seasons became less defined a decade or so ago but we are experiencing more extreme weather conditions in terms of drought and snow. It is this disparity that is causing problems with home insurance, or at least for those that have buildings insurance anyway, because the risk of subsidence is far greater than ever before. The extremes are destabilising the soil beneath many homes and causing major shifts, which can damage foundations and cause houses to slip to a far greater extent than you may realise. This can elevate home insurance quotes if your area is in specific danger of slipping.

So what can you do to preserve your home insurance? Well, you could get a surveyor in to check your risk or do a little research online to check where you stand. However, if the entire area is at risk then you may expect your premiums to go up in the near future so always look around to make sure that you have the cover you want at a price you can afford. You need good cover for subsidence so avoid taking cheap over quality.

Are you a student? If you are the the likelihood is that you live either in student housing off campus or a dorm on campus. Either way, your room is prime fodder for thieves these days because students are more technologically savvy than ever before. In fact, a recent survey found that students are taking an average possessions value of £2,652 with them when they head away to university. This is no bad thing because it means that you are able to enjoy your time at uni and relax as well as working hard. However, there is a problem when it comes to home insurance because the simple fact is that most students do not have any.

There can be little doubt that expensive gadgets are responsible for the vast majority of value each student carries in terms of belongings. For example, 80% of students have a laptop with a further 14% having a desktop and 4% having a tablet. In addition, many have a mobile phone, camera, jewellery, PDA, iPod, iPad and many will also have designer clothing of some sort. This all adds up to a whole lot of cash… and a whole lot to lose if you do not have your stuff covered by a good home insurance policy.

Every student needs some sort of home insurance to cover their possessions and thinking you will not get broken into and stolen from is not an option. The simple fact is that you could lose everything that means something to you at uni and not be able to afford to replace it so getting cover is definitely a way to keep even deeper poverty at bay! There are some fantastic providers of regular home insurance and also specialist student insurance so it is definitely worth checking it all out today to see what little you would have to pay for peace of mind.