Over-60s underinsuring home contents by thousands

One in five over-60s have never updated their policies.

As many as one in five people aged over 60 have never updated their home contents insurance, according to new research from Age UK.

As a result a whopping £3,368-worth of items are left uninsured per household.

A lack of understanding

Age UK argued that this gap in cover stems from a "lack of clarity" around home insurance policies. Almost three-quarters of older people said they did not know they may need to review their cover to ensure new purchases would be covered. Of those, almost half (47%) simply assumed that new or particularly valuable items would be covered when they renewed their insurance policy.

Gordon Morris, managing director of Age UK Enterprises, said it was important that people truly understood how their home insurance policies worked. He added: "Our research shows that clear guidance on the need to update home contents insurance after purchasing expensive items or renewing a policy is not being received."

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The problem with being underinsured

Getting the right amount of cover for your possessions is incredibly important, no matter your age. If you try to make a claim on your home insurance policy, and your insurer discovers you are underinsured, they may react in different ways. Some will simply pay the claim, but others may choose to pay a reduced amount or even cancel the policy entirely, leaving you even more out of pocket.

It's a big enough problem that last year the Financial Ombudsman Service published a series of case studies covering cases it has dealt with where policyholders have been underinsured and run into problems making a claim. For more read The danger of underinsuring your possessions.

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How much cover do I need?

Working out how much cover to go for can take a while. You really need to go through each room of your house and work out how much it would cost to replace everything in them. Many insurers have contents calculators on their websites which can help. 

Don't go overboard though. While underinsurance is a problem, you also don't want to get too much cover as you'll end up paying higher premiums.

And when you make big purchases, be sure to speak to your insurer to keep them updated. Don't wait until your next renewal date to update your policy!

For more read our Cut your home insurance costs guide.

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