Home insurance can be cheaper than filling up your car

Home insurance premiums continue their slide down and are surprising even experts with the rates at which they are decreasing.

The latest benchmark British Insurance Premium Index, measured by AA Insurance for the first quarter of 2015, shows that the average quote for a combined home buildings and contents insurance policy fell by £6 (or 3.6 per cent) to £158.66.

Over 12 months, the typical Shoparound quote for combined policy fell by 9.6 per cent, or nearly £17.

“The cost of insuring your home for a year can be less than the cost of filling a car’s fuel tank.  That has to be a bargain,” Janet Connor, managing director of AA Insurance said commenting on the figures.

“I would not have expected premiums to have fallen by so much but insurers are competing for market share by offering introductory discounts so this is great news for consumers.  But the averages do hide regional differences and those homes most at risk of flooding will be paying higher than average premiums.

“The Flood Re insurance scheme, designed to enable those in at-risk homes to obtain affordable insurance cover, will help thousands of families.  It will be funded by a levyon insurers which equates toaround £10on everyhome insurancepolicy.

“It has however been dogged bytortuous negotiation between the insurance industry and the governmentand I now don’t expect it to be launched until next year.

“And although we may be experiencing relatively gentle weather conditions now, I hope that whatever form the new Government takes after the general election, it will not let flood defence spending or the launch of Flood Re slip down the agenda,” Connor added.