How-to Guides » Cut your home insurance costs

Insure the right amount

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One of the most obvious ways to cut the cost of your home insurance is to lower the amount of cover you have. But you should never be tempted to value your contents for less than they are worth.

This is because your insurer may assess your property and only pay out in proportion to what you're covered for.

So, if you insure your contents for £10,000, but they are actually worth £20,000 – and then £5,000-worth of goods is stolen, your insurer may decide to pay out in proportion to your cover, meaning you'll only get £2,500 back.

And when it comes to buildings insurance, make sure you enter the rebuild value, not the market value. The rebuild value (the cost of materials, labour and other fees to rebuild the property if it were knocked down) is not the same as its market value (the amount that it can be sold for), so make sure you know the difference between them, or you could be over insuring your property.

You can ask your insurer to do this for you based on standard assumptions, or use this house rebuilding costs calculator from the Association of British Insurers. That way, you can ensure you're not paying more than you need to.