Insurances, savings tips
Never, never just accept a renewal quote from your existing provider on your Home and Car Insurance policies. After mortgages, this is the most effective area to save money by finding new quotes. According to the Daily Mail, On average you will save £214 by shopping around, while home insurance cover tumbles from £368 to £227. Getting quotes on the internet is easy, and if you don’t spend at least one lunch hour a year finding a better deal then I wish I had as much money as you!.
1. Claim back Loan protection insurance
Overpriced and oversold, PPI is one of the most lucrative types of insurance ever devised by the finance industry. It can add £3,000 to the cost of a £7,500 secured loans. But many people were sold it who can’t possibly make a claim against it these people are abel to demand their money back again.
Many companies are offering to calimthis moneyt back for you but they will take 25% of the refund. Instead, use the Fiancial Ombudsman Service which is free and on average they are helping 80% of those missold . Helpfully, it offers a factsheet on how to make a complaint about PPI which you can find at financialombudsman.org.uk
2. Cancel your mobile phone insurance
Naive youngsters are strongly pressured in phone shops into spending between £50 and £90 a year on this cover. Airtime abuse is not covered which is the greatest risk (where the phone is stolen and used to make international calls), and you can claim for a lost phone on you contents cover.
Cancel your direct debit with the bank and the insurance will lapse.
3. Rethink your life insurance
Life insurance is not for life. Just because the term insurance was sold to you when you took out a mortgage you don’t need to to stick with that provider for the life of the remortgage. the policy can be canceled at any time to get your cover even cheaper. With the human lifetime improving (ie. fewer people dying), insurers have been lowering the cost of life insurance for a log time.
If you are in a job at a big employer, it is likely to offer “death in service” benefit worth at least three times your yearly salary, and often much more. Do you really need all that life cover on top as well?
4. Don’t pay for travel insurance you don’t need
Step 1 An EHIC card provides free or reduced cost treatment in EU countries
Step 2 Check your home insurance policy. most cover your belongings ouside your house.
Step 3 Check your private medical insurance policy, if you have one. These often pay treatment costs incurred abroad. when you are only travelling to Europe, the only real benefit that travel insurance cover brings is cover in the event of a cancellation. Ask yourself if that is really worth premiums that are often pounds 100 or more for a family.
If traveling outside the EU you must have travel isnurance Policies that last for a year and cover you for more than one trip always make sense if you go away more than once a year make sure you are only paying for what you actually need. For example, cover for winter sports.