Has the rush for the Stamp Duty deadline put more homes at risk?
Nearly a million people took the plunge and moved home during the Stamp Duty Holiday relief, and according to our latest research[1], 12% of Brits rushed their property transaction to make it in time for the deadline.
The peripheral fallout is evident: amidst the rush to complete the property purchase in time, a very apparent risk is that Brits may overpay or forget entirely about their home insurance.
How homeowners deal with home insurance
According to the Home Insurance Market Report 2021, 27% of the UK homeowners have no home insurance policy whatsoever – leaving almost £2 trillion of residential property and its contents at risk.
On the other hand, there are many people who are paying way over the average cost of home insurance. The Financial Conduct Authority reports that 6 million Brits are spending too much on their insurance, and if they would start paying the national average, the nation would save around £1.2 billion a year.
Things to consider when buying home insurance
Whether you have home insurance or are planning to get it, here are a few things to consider when purchasing your insurance:
- Is the entirety of your new home insured? Is there enough time to work out the cost of all its contents, from the sink to the shed?
- Is your home insurance from the date of exchange? – which is often before you move!
- Have you given yourself enough time to shop around for the best deal? – premiums are at an all-time high!
- Does your policy cover moving items (such as furniture), or does it require your removal’s company to have their own insurance?
- Speak with your insurer to discuss the scope of your contents insurance: you may be required to specify particular items of value (including proof of purchase); you may need to request out of home cover (items you take on holiday for example), or removals cover.
- For those who have outhouses/sheds and gyms this may not fall into the standard home insurance. Some policies require specific types of cover for out buildings, especially valuable gym equipment.
The risk of not having a home insurance
The biggest single cause of claims in the UK is water damage, with £1.8 million of damage per day. A quarter of all these claims are caused by someone else, meaning that every day £450,000 of water damage is caused to innocent people by either their neighbours or surroundings.
Even if your home is in perfect working condition and you are doing your best to maintain the property, chances are you might suffer some sort of damage due to external factors, and the cost to repair could be in the thousands. This risk factor is even higher during a home move: whether it is the home you are moving into, or your possessions being relocated.
In fact, research by Direct Line revealed that a quarter of home movers in Britain had items lost, damaged or stolen in transit last year. The average value of lost, stolen or damaged items when moving home has risen 34%, from over £500 to almost £700 per incident – totalling to £1.3 billion in 2020 alone.
The importance of getting a home insurance
After a year of Brits moving home, Simon Bath – CEO of iPlace Global – discusses the importance of insurance for the UK’s home movers:
Home insurance is a tricky subject at the best of times, and one that many people get wrong. When rushing to make the Stamp Duty deadline, organising a policy can easily fall by the wayside. Although home insurance is just another example of what is at risk when rushing the home move without proper planning and organisation, it should also be an upmost priority, and one organised well in advance.
Moving Home with Moveable
This is one of the many reasons we created Moveable – a web application designed to streamline the entire home moving process so you can get your ducks in a row in good time. It also lets you compare costs and availability of all service providers, which is particularly important right now considering how busy everyone in the property industry is.
About Moveable
Moveable is an all-in-one property technology web solution aimed to support movers throughout their home move, while providing a modern and intuitive user interface.
Moveable streamlines the moving journey for the end-user by providing transparency over the various stages and parties involved in the process, by allowing easy collaboration with co-movers and third-party services, and by centralising communication processes.
—
[1]Moveable carried out a survey in May 2021 to understand the financial and emotional strain homebuyers go through while rushing their property purchase to take advantage of the Stamp Duty Holiday.