Insurances, savings tips
Everyone know’s not to accept the renewal price from your existing insurance on your car and home insurance. After mortgages, this is the best area to reduce your outgoings by requesting alternative quotes. According to the AA, On average you will save £214 by shopping around, while you home insurance premium tumbles from £385 to £250. It is so easy to get quotes on the internet, 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. Reclaim PPI
Overpriced and oversold, PPI is one of the most lucrative products 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 This money is now eligible to be claimed back.
Many companies will attempt to claim the money back, but you will pay a 25% premium on the monies awarded. Instead, call the FOS 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 £60 and £70 a year on this insurance. But the benefits are minimal: most won’t cover you for the only major risk, airtime abuse (if your phone is ued to call overseas, and if your phone is lost your home and contents should coiver it.
Just ring your bank, stop the direct debit and job done!.
3. Rethink your life insurance
Life insurance is not for life. Just because the term insurance was sold to you by your mortgage broker you don’t need to to stick with that provider for the life of the mortgage. the policy can be canceled at any time and find a better deal. With longevity improving (ie. fewer people dying), life insurance providers have been lowering the cost of life insurance for more than a decade.
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 more. Do you really need all that life insurance cover on top as well?
4. Don’t pay for travel insurance you don’t need
Step 1 Obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) from ehic.org.uk or at your local Post Office. This has replaced the old E111 forms and gives you reducedcost or free medical treatment in EU countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. You may even obtain treatment faster, as you won’t have to rely on a hospital waiting to receive authorisation to treat you from an insurer.
Step 2 Check your home insurance policy. most cover your belongings ouside your house.
Step 3 Check your health cover policy, if you have one. These usually pay treatment costs incurred abroad. For most holidaymakers, who travel to southern Europe once a year, the only real benefit that travel insurance brings is cover in the event of a cancellation. Can you justify paying the premiums?.
For those who travel outside the EU, travel insurance is a must, though. If you go away more than once a year it is best to take a annual policy make sure you are only paying for what you actually need. E.g., f you don’t ski or snowboard, you don’t need winter sports cover.