Maw Comms news
11 Dec, 17 Christmas shopping all wrapped up? Time to check if it’s insured
Make sure your festive gifts are covered this Christmas and beyond
GoCompare is urging Christmas shoppers – particularly those planning to buy pricey tech items or pieces of jewellery – to spare a thought for insurance. While most home contents policies automatically increase to cover the additional cost of festive gifts and food – this is only a temporary boost and items are only insured while they are in the home.
Out of 458 home contents policies* reviewed by GoCompare, most (90%) automatically provide additional cover over Christmas for gifts and food and drink bought for the festivities. Cover limits vary between insurers, with some increasing the value of cover by 10%.
However, this top-up cover is temporary – some policies only offer cover during December, while others provide protection one month before and one month after Christmas** – so people need to make sure that costly gifts are covered once the holidays are over.
Popular Christmas presents include tech, jewellery and bicycles, all items which, depending on your insurance, may be subject to restrictions, for example, limits on the value of a single item. A single item limit is the maximum that your insurer will pay out for an individual item. This is especially relevant for valuable items such as jewellery and watches where the single item limit can be as low as £750. Cover for portable technology including mobile phones and laptops may also be restricted and, these may only be covered while in the home.
If you want to cover for portable items while out and about, you may need to buy additional ‘personal possessions away from home’ cover. Few home contents policies (14%) automatically provide this, most (84%) only offer cover as an add-on, for which an additional fee is payable.
Policy exclusions are another important consideration, certain items may only be insured as an optional extra – bicycles are a good example of this. Only 61% of policies reviewed provide cover as standard for pedal cycles; 36% require you to buy additional cover while 2% exclude cover. Again, you’ll need to make sure your policy includes personal possession away from home – otherwise your bike will only be insured while it is at your home.
Ben Wilson, from GoCompare Home Insurance commented: “It is great that most policies provide additional cover at Christmas, but it is only temporary and it’s important to remember that your single item limit may still apply. So, if you’re planning on really treating somebody this Christmas or are lucky enough to receive something particularly expensive, such as jewellery, a prestigious watch or a great bit of tech, then it’s a good idea to dig out your insurance policy to make sure that it’s covered over Christmas and beyond.”
For more information on insurance cover for Christmas presents visit: http://www.gocompare.com/home-insurance/christmas-cover/
-ends-
For further information please contact:
Anders Nilsson or Martyn John at GoCompare on 01633 654 054 / 01633 654 725
Gordon, Jason or Liz at MAW Communications on 01603 505 845
Notes to editors:
*Source: Defaqto Matrix of 458 home contents policies (20 November 2017) – instant and unbiased market and competitor intelligence, from independent financial researcher Defaqto. Percentages are rounded up to the nearest whole number.
**So long as the timeframe for Christmas cover is within the period of insurance shown on a customer’s policy schedule.
GoCompare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.
GoCompare does not charge people to use its services, and it does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. GoCompare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.
GoCompare does not sell its customers’ data.
When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. GoCompare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest, and has teamed up with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.
GoCompare is the only comparison website to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
For more information visit www.gocompare.com and www.gocomparegroup.com
