Why are homeowners being regarded as 'lazy', merely because they stay with the same insurer from one year to the next. Yet getting alternative quotes and paperwork is enough to put off lots of would be switchers. Millions of policyholders are simply apathetic and cannot be bothered to switch home insurance companies.
Recent surveys have found that over 30% of policyholders said they never switch home insurance companies. Customers are rewarded for staying with the same insurance company. At least that seems to be the rhetoric that insurance companies put out in their advertising and TV adverts. If you make an insurance claim, insurance companies do their utmost, (or so they say), to give you the best customer service experience they can. They often want your feedback as a customer. They ask if you are going to recommend them to friends or family. Often, rewards vouchers are offered if you do recommend friends and family to them, with both you as the customer and your friend securing the reward (shopping vouchers are becoming increasingly popular).
However, these rewards can only apply if you stay with the insurance company. So why is it being lazy not to switch insurance companies when your policy comes up for renewal? I would have thought that it was just a case of reacting to the insurance companies’ offers for remaining loyal.
There is of course the perceived hassle that goes along with switching home insurance providers. With car insurance for example, it seems that because many checks are annual ones, like the tax and the MOT, that insurance becomes another thing that is checked annually, and people tend to switch more for their car insurance because they are prompted to think about it.
However, if customers feel that doing so is a hassle, for example having to wait for No Claims Discount in the post before actually securing that price from the new insurance provider, then customers may well be put off from switching other forms of insurance, when they do not have to. The question is, is this being lazy or is this saving time by not having to make all those phone calls to different call centres to save yourself a few pounds. There are many ways of obtaining alternative insurance quotations for your home, and by telephone is just one of them. The internet, comparison sites and specialist companies are all available to allow the proposed customer choice of method and time of day when to obtain quotations.
Whilst loyalty is perceived to be rewarded, it clearly is not, when insurance companies save the best deals for new customers in a bid to win against the competition. If you are an average household and have been claim free, in a postcode that is attractive to the insurance company then you are exactly the sort of customer they are looking for.
It may be that you are in fact 'over insured' and by taking a look at your insurance requirements for the coming year, that you could save yourself money just by having the right level of cover for you. If for example your children have moved out, then perhaps accidental damage is no longer a necessity, and this can save up to 20% in premiums in some cases.
If you have recently changed jobs and are now spending more time at home, then this again is a better risk for insurance companies, and so by taking a look around the market, you might be able to stay with the same insurance company but still save money, and if they do not offer you any form of discount for being claim free and loyal, then switch.
So if you just cant be bothered with al the hassle of switching check out how much you could save when your renewal notice drops on the doormat.
