Nearly three million misconstrue buildings insurance

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Nearly three million misconstrue buildings insurance

Close to three million people have an inaccurate view of buildings insurance, according to Sainsbury’s Home Insurance.

It is a frequently held misconception that when purchasing a home buildings insurance must be taken out from the mortgage provider in order to successfully apply.

Sainsbury’s found that of those with building insurance almost half (48%) had purchased it directly from their mortgage provider. It is concerning, the firm believes, that so many people seem unaware that a better deal may be on offer if they browsed the market for a more competitive offer.

Furthermore, only 28% of those with building insurance from their mortgage provider felt they had been offered the best deal, with 18% under the impression they had to buy the insurance from their mortgage company to get their mortgage.

Steve Johnson, the firm’s head of home insurance, reckons that a key factor in the lack of market browsing may simply be that buying a home is an extremely time-consuming and stressful activity, and that many buyers prefer the ease of buying insurance directly from their mortgage provider.

A number of buyers (13%) did indeed choose the quickest and easiest option, whereas 7% were simply too lazy to browse the market for the best deal.

Over a quarter of homeowners with buildings insurance (26%) did not look at other offers when taking out their insurance.

The elderly were least likely to compare, with just 37% of over 65s looking at multiple quotes compared to 20% in the 25-34 year age range.