Not switching home insurance cost Brits £26 million last year

Research published today by Tescocompare.com reveals that almost two thirds (64%) of Brits stayed with their existing home and contents insurance provider at their last renewal. This is despite almost half (44%) seeing a price increase and a massive 4 million homeowners seeing increases in excess of inflation.

Of those that saw an increase in excess of inflation – just 16% made a claim on their policy in the last year and only 5% increased the level of their cover – suggesting over 3 million homeowners simply took the price increase for granted.

Worryingly, only just over one in five (22%) admitted to thinking about moving their policy, despite seeing a price increase above inflation. Also – only one in twelve (8%) shopped around and discovered they couldn’t get the insurance cheaper anywhere else, suggesting many could have saved money.

Of those that stayed put – only one in two (48%) felt their insurance company told them of the increase in good time to allow them to look for alternatives. With the average insurance premium standing at £283 – Brits could have saved at least £26 million if they had shopped around to avoid a premium hike in excess of inflation at renewal.

Commenting on the research, Paul Baxter of Tescocompare.com said: "The message behind this research is clear – many millions sleepwalk through their insurance renewal allowing their insurer to increase premiums unchallenged. Regardless of how loyal you are to your current home and contents insurer – you should shop around at each renewal to make sure you get the cheapest and most appropriate insurance for you. Using an insurance comparison site such as Tescocompare.com helps you do this quickly and easily."

Tescocompare.com has launched a new home and content insurance service, with a revolutionary comparison tool which allows consumers to look at the policy features of the insurance policy they are buying to make an informed decision.

As with its existing car insurance service the home service goes beyond current price comparison services by not only comparing home insurance policies by price but also allowing consumers to compare over 25 policy features, including cancellation fees, legal cover and alternative accommodation cover, across insurers so that customers can find the right insurance for them.

The new and free service offers customers insurance comparisons from a great range of insurance providers. Tescocompare.com currently lists details of around 17 different products, such as AA, More Th>n, Esure, Prudential and Churchill.

The service also offers pictures of locks on doors and windows, plus links to the ABI calculators for rebuild price and contents value to help ensure consumers have an as accurate quote as possible.

Commenting on the new service, Paul Baxter of Tescocompare.com said: "When we launched Tescocompare.com we did so in direct response to our customers’ requests for more help in choosing their car insurance. The new home service is built on exactly the same principles that have made the car channel Defaqto’s top ranked car insurance comparison site for the second time in a row."

"Our consumers want more than just the usual ‘shop around’ tool for insurance premiums. We have placed great emphasis on the fact that our site not only compares price but also looks at individual policy features to allow users to make sure they are getting the right cover for them. No other home insurance comparison site allows consumers to do this. We have also ensured that the price through Tescocompare.com will be no more expensive to the consumer than the price if they went direct."

Opinium Research LLP carried out an online poll of 2000 British adults between 30th May and 2nd June 2008. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria.