The average person could save £66 by switching home insurance provider, collectively missing out on £90m worth of better deals according to research by comparethemarket.com.
31 OCT 2016 | CHRIS SEEKINGS
In a survey of over 2,000 mortgage holders, it was found that 17% had taken the home insurance policy put forward by their mortgage provider rather than searching for more competitive deals.
This was cited as the 'easiest option' by 44% of consumers, with 11% who took out home insurance through their mortgage provider saying they felt pressured to do so.
Comparethemarket.com head of home insurance, Gemma Sonfield, said: "When you consider the huge outlay required when buying a house, it is very easy to ignore the potential savings from shopping around for a home insurance policy.
"However, as the statistics show, almost £90 million is being overpaid unnecessarily by taking the default option of home insurance via their bank.
"Perhaps the most concerning finding in our research is that more than one in ten people felt pressured to take the home insurance policy in order to secure the mortgage and that the same number didn't even know that shopping around was a possibility."
Building insurance is compulsory when purchasing a freehold property with a mortgage and covers the building itself should it be damaged or destroyed.
Although many simply take the offer provided to them by their mortgage provider, the research shows that more are looking for other attractive options available on the market.
The research found that 52% shopped around for a better home insurance deal within the last year, and only 6% said they had never researched alternative providers.
"If some people feel forced to take what can be a more expensive policy, banks need to evaluate how they communicate with their customers," Sonfield added.
