How to avoid invalidating your home insurance

 

It’s often said that knowledge is power and when it comes to home insurance it pays to read the small print. Admittedly not every homeowner has the time to carefully investigate policy details, but it’s certainly worth taking a closer look to check that you’re covered in the following scenarios: Read More

 

Facebook updates could invalidate your home insurance

 

Holidaymakers are being urged to resist the temptation to post pictures or status updates on social media sites or risk invalidating their home insurance. Telling the world that you’re away for a fortnight is an open invitation to burglars and insurance companies are warning homeowners that claims could be rejected.

While holiday selfies may seem like harmless fun between friends; social media sites are being used by burglars to find unoccupied properties. The police have issued repeated warnings about cyber savvy criminals using facebook and twitter to find easy targets, but careless homeowners are still being caught out.

Most home insurance policies contain a ‘reasonable care’ clause which places a responsibility on homeowners to look after their possessions. It’s a common sense approach and anyone who fails to lock their doors or close their windows shouldn’t be surprised if a burglary claim is rejected.

Similarly advertising the fact that you are away from home can be grounds for rejecting a burglary claim and some insurers have started checking homeowners’ social media account.

A spokesman for the Financial Ombudsman Service commented “you wouldn't put a poster up on your front lawn saying you're going on holiday”, and the Associatio of British Insurers warned homeowners to “think carefully about what you put on social media

It’s difficult to think of a more depressing way to end a holiday than returning home to find that you’ve been burgled, only to then discover that you’ve invalidated your insurance. Instead keep your selfies to yourself, don’t check-in with Facebook Places and save your status updates for when you get back.

Don't forget to ensure you have your holiday insurance sorted before you go!

Article courtesy of quotelinedirect.co.uk & http://www.quotelinedirect.co.uk/house/

 

Finding thatched roof insurance

For a whole host of reasons, most insurers will not entertain the idea of providing cover for a property with a thatched roof.

The property may have a romantic feel and look good, but homes with thatched roofs come with a variety of problems and risks that insurers are inclined to avoid.

Property owners with thatched roof homes have probably already discovered the difficulties in finding insurance cover.

Among the reasons for not offering insurance is that thatched roofs are costly to repair - an insurer will want to know when the thatch was last replaced, although a good roof should last for up to 50 years.

Article courtesy of quotelinedirect.co.uk

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Landlord insurance buyer’s guide

Landlord insurance is often sold on price rather than the depth of cover, so property investors should dig deeper in to their policies to understand just what they can claim for.
One family recently picked up a £20,000 tab after a drugs gang moved in to their three-bedroom buy to let and wreaked havoc growing cannabis – but their insurance claim was rejected because the policy failed to include a malicious damage clause.
So what is landlord insurance and what cover should a property investor go for?

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