There are several different factors that can affect how much you pay for your home insurance. One particularly important factor is where you live.
If you happen to live in a high crime area, your postcode could flag you up as a high-risk to your insurer. If your insurance company believes there’s a strong possibility of you being burgled, there’s also a high probability of you making a claim. This risk factor could increase your premiums.
Moneysupermarket.com recently analysed over 1.1 million home insurance enquires that were made on their site throughout 2009. From this analysis, they have drawn up a hit-list of the most ‘at-risk’ postcodes in the UK. Of the 20 postcodes on their list, London featured heavily – making up over 50% of the list. Blackheath (SE3), Hammersmith (W6) and Finsbury Park (N4) took the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots respectively.
Manchester had 2 postcodes in the list (M21 and M22) – with Chorlton-cum-Hardy, M21, taking the not-so-coveted number one position.
Bristol postcodes BS6 and BS7 made an appearance, as well as Leeds postcodes LS8 and LS15.
Whatever your postcode, it still always pays to be vigilant. Last summer alone, British insurers handled 78,000 domestic burglary claims. The pay-out for these claims totalled £84 million.
A few simple precautions could help you avoid the financial losses and heartache of a home burglary and might also help lower your home insurance premium. Good security features like multi-point locks, burglar alarms and neighbourhood watch schemes are all looked upon favourably by home insurers and could reward you with reductions.
For more tips on home security, check out our article Safe and sound.