The cost of UK home insurance has continued to fall in the first quarter of 2015, with the average combined building and contents policy now costing £287 a year.
30 APRIL 2015 | BY CINTIA CHEONG
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said competition within the sector and insurers' planning for major events such as flooding caused the drop of the premium.
The ABI said the figure represented a 1% drop on the previous quarter and a 2% drop on the same quarter last year.
For buildings insurance, the average premium was £225 a year. This was reduced by 3% compared with the previous quarter and also 3% down on the same quarter of 2014.
For contents-only insurance, the average premium was £118 a year. This was down 5% on the last quarter of 2014 and 8% lower than the first quarter last year.
Mark Shepherd, the ABI's general insurance manager, explained the average insurance payout for a home damaged by the flooding in 2013/2014 in the UK was around £30,000. In the aftermath, insurers dealt with 18,700 claims for flooding and nearly 450,000 for storm damage.
He said: "Claims costs for other perils can also be very high, with an average claim for domestic fire damage of £11,000. Despite this, the expertise of insurers in planning for such events and competition within the sector is ensuring millions of families can benefit from affordably priced protection for their home and their possessions."
