Home insurance 'most popular type of cover'

22/05/2008

Home insurance is the most popular type of policy and is taken out by nine out of every ten people, a new report has shown.

According to a study by financial advice website Fool.co.uk, motor insurance comes second with 85 per cent of people forking out for a car or van insurance policy.

Furthermore buildings insurance is the same with 85 per cent of people buying cover.

This is despite the fact that both motor and buildings insurance are compulsory requirements if you own a car or have a mortgage.

Consumers typically spend over £1,500 on insurance premiums every year but one in three people have no idea how much cover they have, according to the report.

Research findings also show that four per cent of respondents have 12 different types of insurance policies and six per cent say they insure everything they possibly can.

David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk, said: "The key to buying insurance is only to insure against risk that you cannot afford to bear. So if you buy insurance you don't need then you are wasting money."

He added that not knowing how much insurance cover you have "is just as bad" and is akin to "playing a card game where everyone can see your cards except you".

The news comes as research revealed that customers prefer to research home insurance online above any other medium.

NMA reported that a study by customer experience benchmarking company Global Review showed that 53 per cent of consumers who have researched home insurance browse individual websites while 41 per cent use a search engine.

Compare the market for cheap home insurance .

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